History Main / FiveRaces

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->''"Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!\\
First name the five, the free peoples:\\
Eldest of all, the elf-children;\\
Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses;\\
Ent the earthborn, old as mountains;\\
Man the mortal, master of horses;\\
And half-grown hobbits, the hole-dwellers."''
-->-- '''Treebeard's''' song on the lore of creatures, ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''

Many fantastic settings attempting a universe will end up using "races" of people, the word race here typically referring to biologically distinct species of humanoids and not ethnicities or skin colours of humans.

Sometimes this is used to explore aspects of the world from a different perspective, other times it's just an easy way to soapbox or [[PlanetOfHats describe different points of view]] and aspects of normal people.

In a game world, different races often have completely different abilities to give the player a larger variety of possible play-styles and character customization.

Over time certain archetypes have begun to appear; These include:

* '''Stout''' ([[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarfs]], [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giants]], UrsineAliens, the ProudWarriorRace, BeastMan, [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]], and the like): Strong and tough, usually associated with hard physical work and masculinity, to the point that they may be a OneGenderRace of males. The archetypal Stout in fantasy is the dwarf. In ScienceFiction settings, the role may be given to one of the more [[ProudWarriorRace warlike]] alien races, robots or cyborgs or possibly even [[HumanSubspecies humans]] genetically or cybernetically enhanced for heavy labour or [[HeavyWorlder life on high-gravity planets]]. Stouts can be quick to anger and often have a culture focused on strength, honor and martial values, and may share an uneasy peace with other peoples of the setting.
* '''Fairy''' ([[OurElvesAreDifferent Elf]][=/=][[OurFairiesAreDifferent Fairy]][=/=][[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angel]]): The most magical or technological race, relatively speaking, and often depicted as so removed from the other races as to border on the alien or out of touch. This can make some of the other races, [[ElvesVsDwarves especially the Stouts]], openly despise them. It can include angelic types, or on rare occasions even [[PhysicalGod gods]]. The typical Fairy is an elf, correspondingly more [[{{Elfeminate}} "feminine"]] in contrast to the "masculine" Stouts (longer hair, greater delicacy, and likely to depend on ranged weaponry and their wit to get them out of danger) and more ascetic or emotionally restrained to counter the gruff passion of the Stouts. Some works go as far as to turn them into a OneGenderRace of females. Recently, having this be a CuteMonsterGirl is more and more common. In SpeculativeFiction, substitute humans with [[PsychicPowers psionic abilities]], {{Artificial Intelligence}}s when they aren't [[AIIsACrapshoot crapshoots]], or [[ProudScholarRaceGuy advanced]] but not quite {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s. See also SpaceElves.
* '''Mundane''' (almost always [[HumansAreAverage Human]]): [[AudienceSurrogate What the modern reader supposedly most identifies with.]] The least magical race, usually enjoys simple pleasures instead of adventuring, a la Tolkien's {{Hobbits}}. Usually the JackOfAllTrades of the races. This is usually a role assigned to humans, unless you have...
* '''High Men''' ([[OurElvesAreDifferent High Elf]][=/=][[HumansAreSpecial Human]][=/=][[OurGodsAreDifferent God]]): The most powerful, civilized and magically or technologically advanced race in the setting. Usually a historical or [[WitchSpecies fantastic interpretation]] of what humans are or want to be. A setting without elves as Fairy or High Men simply will not have elves. If the {{Precursors}} still exist in a SpeculativeFiction setting, they might fill this role if TheFederation isn't heavily idealized.
* '''Cute''' ({{Hobbit|s}} or [[OurGnomesAreWeirder Gnome]]): The fifth, increasingly common group, and becoming especially popular in modern gaming. [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower They may seem weak, but through cleverness and inner strength they are able to come out on top.]] Tends to either overlap with Mundane (to produce {{Hobbits}}) or Fairy (to produce gnomes), but usually designed with a larger dose than usual of FunPersonified.

This does not include the various [[AlwaysChaoticEvil "evil races"]] that crop up, though some of those can fit into the above categories.

If the heroes in this setting form a FiveManBand, there will typically be one of each race represented, since each race can usually "map" to one of the five slots better than any of the others.
* TheHero: Usually Mundane, but occasionally High Men or a halfbreed between the two.
* TheLancer: Almost always Mundane.
* TheSmartGuy: High Men, but sometimes Fairy.
* TheBigGuy: Stout. Ironically, this often means that the Dwarf of the party fills the role of the Big Guy.
* TheChick: Cute or Fairy.

In the role of a SixthRanger, the "sixth species" may be a member of a lost or hidden race, a LastOfHisKind from some ancient ruins of a once great species. This set up usually enforces HybridOverkillAvoidance to keep [[CompetitiveBalance the balance]].

The EvilCounterpart is an Administrivia/InternalSubtrope called the Fantasy Axis of Evil. See SquareRaceRoundClass for the deliberate subversion.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* While it is not emphasized all too much, ''Manga/SoulEater'' has the Stout Meisters, or fighters; the Fairy Witches, the highly magical species; the Mundane Humans, whom the meisters and weapons protect; the Shinigami are the High Men (although we only know two); and the Weapons would be the Cute, as over half of them are incapable of self-defense and are always told to stay with their meister, in weapon form while in combat.
* ''Anime/HeroicAge'' has the Golden Tribe as the FairFolk, the Silver Tribe as the High Men, the Bronze Tribe as the Cute (being the weakest), the Heroic Tribe as the Stouts, and the Iron Tribe (Humans) as the mundanes. It should be noted that all the races have psychic potential.
* ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' has humans (mundane) mermaids (fairy), and Ancients (high men) in the categories. Panthalassa and Suiyou don't seem to fit anywhere, except maybe as another mixture of fairy and high men.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': There's a lot more races than 5, but all the archetypes are filled by more than one of them.
** Mundane: Humans, who dominate the setting. You also have certain tribes that are pretty much just humans with a respective elongated limb, like the Longarms, Longlegs and Snakenecks.
** High Men: [[FishPeople Fishmen]], who are stronger than humans on average, but a few of them can be absurdly racist. There's also a very small subset of Humans who are considered divine nobles. They view all other living beings as below them and can perform all sorts of atrocities as they please.
** Stout: [[OurGiantsAreBigger Giants]], the resident {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s who take after [[HornyVikings Vikings]], and the [[BeastMan animalistic]] Minks, who are born warriors.
** Fairy: The three types of Sky People, who live in the clouds and rarely interact with those below.
** Cute: The {{Lilliputian|s}} Dwarves and the often sexy [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Merfolk]].
* ''Anime/PetitePrincessYucie'' has each race is a different world, of Humans, Demons (Stout), Angels (Fairy), Ghost (High-Men) and ironically, Fairies (Cute). The final episodes showed that there was a sixth world, the Magic World.
* ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'' is set in a fictional version of Great Britain inhabited by five races known as the "Five Clans": Humans, Fairies, Giants, Demons, and Goddesses. The eponymous group in the series also has at least one member from at least four of the five.
* ''Anime/AuraBattlerDunbine'': The MedievalEuropeanFantasy world of "Byston Well" has four of the five races: "Komon" (Mundane) which are humans by another name, "Mi-Ferario" (Fairy) your standard troublesome fairies, Ae-Ferario (High Men) the god-like form of the fairies which look human except for their [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair unnatural hair colors]] and lastly the "Garou Ran" (Stout) a tribe of underground people who despite their short height have high physical capabilities and are often hired by humans to be runners sending messages or preform espionage by scaling castle walls and the like.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In the [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Marvel Comics intergalactic scene]], of the most commonly seen alien races, the Kree are the Stouts (a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}} with strength surpassing normal humans), the Shi'ar are High Men (both BirdPeople and SpaceElves), the Skrull are an ugly version of Fairies ([[ShapeShifter shapeshifting]] is a common trait of the Fair Folk in myth and folklore), and the Humans oddly enough are often treated as a cross between Mundanes and Cutes by the rest of the galaxy (when not treated as a pest needing to be exterminated).
* However, of the most commonly seen races native to the [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse Marvel Comics Earth]], the Atlanteans are the Stouts (yet another {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}} with strength surpassing normal humans), the Inhumans are High Men, the Eternals are Fairies often mistaken for gods, Humans are the Mundanes (although Mutants often pretend to be High Men or even Fairies), and the Subterraneans (all three races) are an UglyCute sort of Cute. The Deviants, enemies of the Eternals, are also Stouts and have a great deal in common with the Atlanteans (both rely heavily upon huge [[Creator/JackKirby Kirbyesque]] war machines, giant beasts, and underwater cities).
* ''ComicBook/{{Sojourn}}'': Besides humans, the trolls are Stouts, the winged Ankharans are High Men, the insect-like Urnethi are the Fairies, while arguably the original snow trolls were Cutes.
* Of the most frequently appearing planetary races in modern [[Creator/DCComics DC Comics]], culturally speaking, the militaristic Thanagarians are now the Stouts, the Martians are now the High Men, the godlike Oans are the Fairies when they are not a particularly dark deconstruction of Fairies, the Rannians are now the Mundanes, and the 5th Dimensional imps are the Cutes. On the [[Creator/DCComics DC Comics planet Earth]], the now-warlike Amazons have been transformed into the Stouts, the Atlanteans are now the High Men, Zatanna's Homo Magi race are the Fairies, the Humans are the Mundanes, and the Feitherans were the Cutes until they were forgotten. The Gorillas of Gorilla City alternate between High Men (when the story's focus is on King Solivar) and Stouts (in those stories when Grodd manages to take control of the city and incite a militaristic panic)
** There has been a shift the past couple of decades. Back in the Silver Age and early Bronze Age of [[Creator/DCComics DC Comics]], the Thanagarians and the Rannians competed for the role of High Men, the Martians had been the Stouts (particularly the militaristic White Martians), the godlike Oans were the Fairies and race of mentors, the Humans and their offworld parallels were markedly the Mundanes, and the 5th Dimensional imps were the Cutes. On the [[Creator/DCComics DC Comics planet Earth]], the noble Amazons had been the High Men (starting [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 in the Golden Age]]), the Atlanteans were treated as the Cutes (with a special emphasis on mermaids and mermen), Zatanna's Homo Magi race were the Fairies even then, naturally the Humans were the Mundanes, and the Gorillas of Gorilla City were the Stouts though the occasional King Solivar story might raise them to High Men.
* ''ComicBook/{{Monstress}}'':
** Humans are the ''Mundane'' race, being your bog-standard. Humans stand apart in this series in that they have the highest technology of the setting, and collectively have a high degree of [[FantasticRacism racial intolerance]] and thirst for power in comparison to other races. Female, purely human individuals also sometimes develop psychic powers, and are inducted into the [[ChurchMilitant Cumaea]] when found.
** Arcanics straddle the line between ''Mundane'' and ''Stout'', as the second most common race, where most are fairly average compared to humans, but many have animalistic or monstrous attributes that gives them physical abilities that humans just don't have, and some can use magic. [[TheProtagonist Maika]], for instance, has SuperStrength despite having the physique of an average teenager.
** Ancients take the ''High Men'' slot, being the most magically capable species, as well as being immortal and invariably ancient though still hale. Far from being idealized, Ancients are just as fallible and prone to having their own shortcomings as anybody else. Despite being older and more experienced by dint of their extreme age, this doesn't necessarily make them enlightened, or even wiser in some cases. Ancients often play the part of the top aristocrats in Arcanic society, idling away their days when they can't ignore matters and largely becoming stagnant. Though they remain very powerful magic users, their powers are also declining, and few people are sure why.
** Cats take up the part of the ''Cute'' race because, well, they're cats. They have a reputation as being cultured and scholarly, their professors and especially poets being highly regarded in their society. They also appear to have the second highest concentration of magic users after Ancients, most being of the necromantic variety. They also have a well earned reputation for being sneaky and schemers, capable of some shockingly ruthless actions. Ren managed to kill a human soldier he took by surprise early in the series, using just his claws and teeth, though over time he proves his chief strength is both his mind and his ability to manipulate the dead.
** The ''Fairy'' race is held by [[EldritchAbomination the Old Gods]], as they are the most outright mystical species.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Franchise/StarWars:
** Stout: Wookies.
** Fairy: Whatever Yoda's race is.
** Mundane: Humans, especially if on Naboo or with the Rebellion.
** High Men: Jedi.
** Cute: Ewoks (was there any doubt?) and Jawas in the original trilogy; Jar Jar Binks and the Gungans are examples of failed efforts to create a Cute race for the later prequel trilogy.
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'':
** '''Mundane''': Peter Quill/Star-Lord
** '''Fairy''': Groot, Mantis in [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 the second movie]]
** '''Cute''': Rocket Raccoon
** '''High Men''': Gamora
** '''Stout''': Drax the Destroyer
* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'':
** '''Fairy''': Gelflings (bonus points for female Gelflings actually having fairy wings).
** '''Cute/Mundane''': Podlings
** '''High Men''': The urRu and Skeksis are a play on this, as both are lesser (mortal) races split from the immortal urSkek race.
** '''Stout''': The Gruenaks, introduced in the prequel series.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', despite it having roots in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. There is only one type of humanoid on C'hou: humans (elves are just a different kind of human with pointed ears), broken into six races, plus a whole lot of mixed-race individuals. None of these are “special” in any way, though elves are second-class citizens in Ketafa.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* When one looks only at the magical beings in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', giants are Stout, goblins are Fairies, Wizards are Mundane, centaurs are High Men, and House Elves are Cute/Hobbits.
** Taken to a bigger perspective, [[{{Muggle}} muggles]] are mundane and wizards are Fairies. Goblins, although they are businessmen rather than manual workers, are somewhere between Stout and Fairies.
* Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' has four (or five depending on how you count) heroic races that more or less fill these roles. Humans are of course Mundanes, the Sithi occupy both the Fairies and High Men role, Trolls are Cutes, Niskies are both Fairies and Cutes, and Dwarrows (the underground cousins of the Niskies) are both Stouts and Cutes. And of course there's a corresponding EvilCounterpart for the BigBad's allies.
* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' may be the TropeMaker here, with Elves (High Men), Dwarves (Stout), Ents (Fairy), Men (Mundane or High, depending on which civilization they come from), and Hobbits (Cute/Mundane). Intriguingly, one of the most powerful of the Middle Earth immortals, Tom Bombadill, fits just as neatly as the Hobbits into the Cute category. However, the situation gets a bit murkier once you look deeper into the mythology, with several alternative arrangements and even subsets of the races themselves.
** Alternatively, the Elves are the fairies and the role of High Men is filled by the Númenóreans.
** The Elves themselves are subdivided, with the Vanyar[[note]]Fair Elves[[/note]] who stay in the Undying Lands once there and play little role in the books as the Fairies, Noldor[[note]]High/Deep Elves[[/note]] as the High Men, the Teleri (including the Falmari[[note]]Sea Elves[[/note]], Sindar[[note]]Grey Elves[[/note]], Laiquendi[[note]]Green Elves[[/note]], and Silvan Elves) as the Mundane (relatively speaking), and the Avari who also play little role in the books as the Cute.
** If you count Hobbits as an offshoot of Men, then it could be that the Five Races are Ainur (angel- and demon-like shapeshifters to which Gandalf, Sauron, Saruman, and the Balrog belong) as High Men, Elves and Ents as Fairy, and Men/Hobbits as mundane.
* The ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' novels, and the associated ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game setting, have a large number of races, but the ones who get the lion's share of the spotlight are Dwarves (stout), Elves (fairy), Humans (mundane, especially the Barbarians), and Kender (cute). The High Men role is filled by two nations of the other races, namely the Solamnians (humans) and the Silvanesti (elves).
* An exception is Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, which have many different races, but only three are especially defined: Humans, Dwarfs (note the plural spelling) and Trolls (and although very different, Dwarfs and Trolls are both Stout by the trope's definitions). Elves appear in only three novels, ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'', ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen'' and ''The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'', and are sociopathic extradimensional pillagers instead of the usual Tolkien-esque [[HiddenElfVillage isolated sages]]. Gnomes, Vampires and Werewolves are increasingly used, but tend to be more focused on the individuals rather than well-culturally defined races.
** Gnomes (and pictsie) are kind of like the "cute" race, but more [[ViolentGlaswegian violent]]. They are tiny and hard-headed in every sense of the word. Vampires and Werewolves [[strike: tend to be bastards]]vary considerably, with one known group of organized bastards in each race contrasting sharply with characters like Angua and Maladict[[spoiler:a]].
** Actually, the humans are nearly every race depending on who we're talking about: Witches = Fairy, Wizards = High Men, Watchmen = Stout, Twoflower (early on) or Moist (a late addition) = Cute, and the Mundane are the other characters who tend to get seen only once or twice.
* Creator/DavidWeber specifically invokes the trope name in his ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series. Aligning the five races with the trope isn't all that straightforward, though.
** Dwarves are '''Stout'''. Short, physically strong and industrious. Also in the process of kicking off their world's version of the Industrial Revolution. The old empire ran on Magitek powered by Wizards, and there's not enough to power anything so they've had to invent new ways to do what they know is possible.
** Elves are '''Fairy'''. Mystical, immortal and rarely found outside their one city-state. They suffer a species-wide form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the fall of the empire. Most were once human warlocks who gave up their powers in exchange for immortality, although some new ones have been born from time to time.
** Humans are generally '''Mundane''' but with elements of '''High Men''' as in this setting only humans can become wizards or the psionic Magi. Humans can breed with all the other races, and their hybrids can also be Magi or Wizards. Half-elves are the only hybrids that breed true (at least with each other and full elves) and half-hradani are sterile. WordOfGod suggests half-human hybrids may have a higher chance to be Magi or Wizards than normal.
** The hradani and halflings don't fit well into either the '''Cute''' or '''High Men'''.
*** The hradani can fit in '''Cute''' for certain values of cute with their fox-like ears, though it conflicts with their current ProudWarriorRaceGuy image. They ''used'' to be '''High Men''' but lost their status after being enslaved and used as shock troops by dark wizards in the back story, and only one Wild Wizard and maybe a handful of elves even remember the fact. In many respects they qualify as Orcs.
*** The halflings would fit the more traditional '''Cute''' role but are generally described as sneaking, lying cowards that no one has any use for. The only exception are the Marfang Islander Halflings who are considered brave to the point of insanity. They are descended from servants and slaves of dark wizards exposed to too much magic.
** Also of note in the series are the Half-Elves. They would consider themselves the '''High Men''' of the setting but no one else does because they only maintain their uniqueness when breeding with full Elves or other Half-Elves. If they interbred with the far more numerous humans their Elf traits would be swamped by the far more numerous humans and as such they aren't considered a proper race.
* Terry Brooks's ''Literature/{{Shannara}}'' has these as well, though the origins are different for most. Except Elves, which are the Fairies, and seperate from humans though inter-breedable, Dwarves, Trolls, Gnomes and others are all offshoots of humans. Dwarves and Trolls share Stout, Gnomes and most humans are Mundane. Elves are literal fairies, as well as being the High Men, the latter shared with the Druids. He seems only to lack the Cute, though the Gnomes of Storlock might count, as might the Elves.
* In Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'', Randy Waterhouse divides humans into groups based on the races from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Hands-on geeks (including Randy himself) are Dwarves, ivory-tower academics are Hobbits, brilliant {{Bunny Ears Lawyer}}s are Elves, normal people are Men, the enigmatic, [[{{Immortality}} immortal]] [[TheMentor mentor]] Enoch Root is a Wizard, CrazySurvivalist Andrew Loeb is Gollum, etc.
* The Literature/BasLagCycle, which includes ''Literature/PerdidoStreetStation'' and [[Literature/TheScar its]] [[Literature/IronCouncil sequels]] are a notable aversion, with [[LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces more bizarre fantasy races than you shake a stick + 1 at]].
** Nonetheless, it's not hard to make those races with a prominent role in the first novel fit this trope, with cactacae (gruff and hard to hurt) as the Stout, vodyanoi (watercraeft powers) as the Fairy, Garuda as High Men (note that they're socialists like the author), and khepri as the Cute (very Woobie-ish despite the bug heads).
* ''Literature/CodexAlera'':
** '''Stout''': The Canim, a race of giant wolf-headed warriors and old foes of the Alerans. They are divided into castes, only the smallest of which is able to use magic, while the warrior caste leads their society.
** '''Fairy''': The Marat, basically nomadic Neolithic elves who live and fight alongside animals they form [[BondCreatures lifelong bonds]] with. Also the Icemen, essentially sapient yetis from the far north who use their ability to control snow, ice and the weather to keep the Aleran armies away from their home.
** '''High Men''': The Alerans, a human civilization descended from the Lost Roman Legions, control the largest single empire and what is possibly the most technically advanced culture in the setting. By virtue of being the main POV culture, they also fill the role of the '''Mundane'''.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' comes close if wizards are a race apart from ordinary humans (they do live much longer and have scientifically observable, heritable biological differences from non-wizards). So High Men would be wizards, Mundanes would be humans. The High Fae and the White Court vampires are Fairies, while the little faeries like Toot-toot are the Cute. Strangely, the closest to Stout are the Knights of the Cross; they're buff, no-nonsense warriors, some of them have craftsman-type skills, and they don't get on with Fairy-types at all. But there are only three of them, and they're BadassNormal humans.
** The Forest and Rock People could also fill the Stout role, with a moderate dose of Fairy added.
* In the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' trilogy, we have:
** The [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy panserbjørne]] ([[NinjaPirateZombieRobot intelligent, armour-clad]] {{bears|AreBadNews}}) as the stouts, right down to the hard physical work (they're expert smiths) and masculinity (female bears were seen once, briefly, and males seem to be the only ones who do anything)
** The [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]] as the fairies
** Humans as the mundanes, obviously
** Witches (and, to a lesser extent, shamans) as the high men; they seem to have initially started out as humans (women only; male offspring of a witch will be a regular human) but have now advanced far beyond them and are able to perform magic, experience stimuli that humans cannot (such as feeling starlight and seeing [[OurSoulsAreDifferent dæmons]] from worlds where they would usually be hidden) and, importantly, be long distances from their dæmons without suffering
** The cute race is difficult, but the [[LilliputianWarriors Gallivespians]] or, more likely, the [[StarfishAliens mulefa]] would probably fit the bill.
* ''Literature/{{Vurt}}'' uses robots for stout, humans for mundane, and dogs for cute. (Not talking dogs or anything, but they're an honorary race because they can interbreed with some of the others.) Depending on how you look at it, "vurts" (beings that were created in virtual reality but escaped into the real world) occupy either fairy or high men, and shadows (never explained except that they're humanoid and telepathic) take whatever's left over. However, unlike most of the above settings the boundaries between the groups are relatively fluid, with five common two-way hybrids (counting cyborgs), five three-way hybrids, and five four-way hybrids, plus a theoretical fiver that has yet to come into existence.
** ''Pollen'', another novel by Jeff Noon in the same Verse goes into a little more detail, explaining the origins of beings like the Shadows who would clearly fill the Fairy role given their psychic powers. Intelligences from Vurt tend to be more like demigods and so fall outside of the normal 5-race categorisation.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' examples: Humans are Mundane. Andalites are High Men. Hork-Bajir are Stouts. Chee, the Pemalites, and the Ellimist are the science-fiction equivalent of TheFairFolk. As for the "Cute," comic-relief role, all of the races can be humbled into playing this role at any time, so there is no need for a separate race to be the "Cute" one.
** Helmacrons!
*** CuteButCacophonic, sure. Plus they want to conquer the universe despite being less than an inch tall. They are hilarious though also not that harmless.
* ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'' has Humans as mundanes and Dwarves as stout while the Elves are mostly just a more civilised form of mundanes. The Patryns and Sartan are both fairies, being in some way descended from humans but possessing much more magical aptitude to the point of being considered demigods; they both look down on the other three races equally.
* Literature/TrappedOnDraconica: Discussed early on by Ben, who asks about them. Although Erowin shoots down most of them, they are actually represented. Elves are present but they function more or less like the mundane humans, a breed of intelligent tigers are created to be pets (check for closer to earth sensibility and innter strength traits) Dragokin for High Men, [[spoiler: Erowin herself becomes an angel and clearly more powerful then anyone else.]]
* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'': Adamists (humans) are Mundane, Edenists (a telepathic, [[OrganicTechnology bitek-using]] offshoot of humanity) are High Men, the Tyrathca (a huge centaur-like species with inferior but sturdy technology and zero emotion or imagination) are Stout, the Kiint (an enigmatic, shapeshifting SuperiorSpecies with virtually omnipotent technology) are Fairy, and the Mosdva (a friendly and technically skilled former SlaveRace who are more dangerous than they look) are Cute.
* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' features five primary civilizations.
** Stout: Green Martians, characterized as savage, but proud multi-armed warriors. They are also physically the largest and strongest of all races.
** Mundane: Red Martians, who were the most predominant people on Barsoom and basically normal humans in the setting.
** Fairy: The White Martians. At least one of their peoples (the Lotharians) demonstrated such advanced psychic abilities verging into [[RealityWarper reality warping territory]].
** High Men: The Black Martians, who are also known as the "First-Born" being the very first civilization to achieve sentience in the planet.
** Cute: Yellow Martians, or rather a version of Crafty as they are the most technologically advanced of all races.
* Zarathan, the setting of ''Literature/TheBalancedSword'', has many intelligent races, but five are particularly prominent and can be matched to the five common types. Odin's Children and the Artan resemble dwarves and elves, respectively, closely enough that the narration sometimes uses those terms for them (though both also diverge from the stereotypes in various ways); humans fit their usual Jack-of-All-Trades role; Saurans are the advanced precursor race; and the Golden-Eyed are the seemingly insignificant race with hidden strengths.
* ''Literature/TheDarkProfitSaga'' originally started with ''four'' races of Man: Elves (Fairy), Dwarves (Stout), Gnomes (Cute), and Sten (High Men). The Sten were gray-skinned, as tall as Elves, and as broad as Dwarves. They were master of low magic, the kind no one else is able to wield. A fifth race appeared shortly after: humans (Mundane). As it turns out, any intermixing between the races of Man results in a human, the so-called "default" race. Currently, the count is down to four again, with the Sten being wiped out by the other races of Man for siding with the GodOfEvil Mannon in the ancient War of Betrayal. Humans, being prolific breeders, have grown to outnumber all other races of Man combined.
* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' technically has four sentient races which are not considered Monsters, but Witchers are often seen as no longer human.
** The Mundane race are humans, by far the most populous race.
** The Stout race are dwarves, they are known for their strength and battle prowess (also banking).
** The Fairy race are elves, the most magically inclined and technologically advanced race.
** The Cute race are halfings, to be expected from lawyer friendly Hobbits.
** Finally the High Men are titular Witchers: they are highly educated and trained, their mutations give them enhanced senses, strength, and immunity, and they are dedicated to preserving both human and monster worlds and act as a link between the two.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' there are:
** '''Stout:''' The Giants ([[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti tall, shaggy humanoids]] with SuperStrength).
** '''Cute:''' The Children of the Forest (A [[InHarmonyWithNature forest-based]] DyingRace that [[AmbiguouslyHuman physically resembles]] children).
** '''Fairy:''' The Others (An AlwaysChaoticEvil race of [[AnIcePerson ice]] FairFolk).
** '''High Men:''' Magical humans (e.g. [[OurMagesAreDifferent Maegi, the Warlocks of Qarth]], [[TheBeastmaster Wargs]], [[{{Seer}} Greenseers]], [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Faceless Men]], {{Dragon Rider}}s).
** '''Mundane:''' Regular humans.
* ''Literature/BlackJewels'':
** Mundane: The short-lived races.
** High Men: The Hayllians and other long-lived races.
** Stout: The ProudWarriorRaceGuy Eyrien.
** Fairy: Fantastical Kindred (intelligent magic-using non-humanoids) such as unicorns and dragons.
** Cute: Kindred based on mundane animals. (Especially the [[HeroicDog Scelties]]).
* [[Literature/SpaceTrilogy Out of the Silent Planet:]]
** '''Mundane:''' The otter-like ''hrossa,'' who live as hunter gatherers.
** '''Stout:''' The ''pfifltriggi,'' who are subterranean builders and artisans.
** '''High Men:''' The ''seroni'' or "sorns," slender giants who wield technology.
** '''Fairies:''' The ethereal ''eldila,'' who appear to be literally [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Though many races feature in the show, six races in particular play a significant impact in the events. The five main ones -- Human, Minbari, Narn, Centauri, and Vorlon -- make up the five races of the Babylon Project, as they represent the most influential governments in the galaxy. The sixth, Shadows, also fit into an aspect of the Five Races trope. At the same time, each race ends the five season series as a subversion as well. Some of the standard tropes associated with the Five Races are very clearly averted or played with differently, though. In particular, the ElvesVersusDwarves trope is averted, since the Elf-like Minbari and Stout Narns have no particularly unusual relationship. Instead, a similar relationship occurs between the Narn and Centauri, while the Minbari and Humans have their own complicated, intertwined fate — so two pairs of linked races among the central four. ''Babylon 5'' is also a case where this is almost entirely deliberate - series creator J Michael Straczynski wanted to make an "SF ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' for television", and included other typically fantasy tropes such as [[{{Ranger}} "rangers"]], prophecies and OrderVersusChaos. (The [[Series/{{Crusade}} short-lived sequel series]] went even further, modelling the protagonists on a traditional "adventuring party", but [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]])
** Human: Mundane -- Basically as described, with a small amount of HumansAreSpecial thrown in as well, in the form of "humans build communities" and have a sense of altruism that other races lack. However, by the end of the series, this is subverted as humans become perhaps the most important race of them all.
** Minbari: Fairy -- of the SpaceElves type. They are stated to be the oldest of the younger races, and have the most advanced technology among them, as well as a closer connection to the godlike Vorlons. Hence, "most magical" among the races. They are more spiritual than other races and become the sponsors and mentors to the rangers, and they have a more feminine visual aesthetic, including the CrystalSpiresAndTogas architecture. They do invert the "long, flowing hair" trait, since (barring HalfHumanHybrids) Minbari are bald. By the end of the series, this is subverted when [[spoiler: they change their legal system to give most of the authority to the worker caste, a combination of Stout and Mundane]].
** Narn: Stout -- Perhaps not as obvious of a connection since most of the Narns are fairly tall, but the other traits line up. They are a ProudWarriorRace, perpetually angry and put-upon, physically strong and bulky and used for labor when they were enslaved, and lacking in telepathic "magic" that the other races possess. They also love their alcohol. However, this is subverted by the end of the series when [[spoiler: they are taken over by a new religion based around the writings of a surprised G'Kar, a religion more in keeping with Fairy or High Men]] .
** Centauri: At the beginning of the series, they come across as an ugly-cute sort of Cute race: they have some of the most amusing lines in the first two seasons, seem to specialize in speaking in witticisms and epigrams, and exhibit stereotypically gnomish traits such as their snarkiness and their penchant for tricking and manipulating people. As the regent says, "I have been silly, but I have always been Centauri." However, all of this changes about midway through the five season series, and they become more like a fallen High Man.
** Vorlons: High Men -- of the God/Angels variety. They are the most powerful of the five races. Their status as [[ThePrecursors First Ones]] and the fact that their level of advancement is apparently what the younger races are supposed to strive towards pushes them into the High Men category. This is subverted [[spoiler: when the younger races reject them and send them away, and they show themselves to be afraid of "Going beyond the rim", analogous to dying]].
** The Shadows, being the villainous analogues to the Vorlons, are also High Men, but exist alongside the Five Races rather than as a component of them.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** The Federation's five most commonly seen races map fairly well to the Five Races.
*** Humans are the Mundane, the jack-of-all-trades race whose racial talent seems to be the ability to find common ground and friendship with even the most alien of other races and are praised for it by nearly every god race in the galaxy.
*** Vulcans are the Fairy, due to their telepathic abilities, their ascetic indifference to the mortal worries that concern other races, their almost supernatural intelligence, and their deep wisdom that is noted by nearly every other friendly race throughout the series.
*** Andorians are the High Men, passionate yet disciplined larger-than-life warriors who would have been quite at home in the Hyboria of Creator/RobertEHoward or among the warriors of Gondor and Rohan in the world of Creator/JRRTolkien.
*** Tellarites are the Stout, as gruff and tough and alcohol-swilling as any classic fantasy dwarf.
*** Oddly enough, the race that most easily fits the Cute are the god races -- the Organians, the Metrons, and the parents of Trelane the Squire of Gothos -- all of whom have a subtle, understated impishness to the way they tease the mortal races for their immaturity, not unlike an uncle teasing a young nephew or niece, as well as the inner strength and a certain "fun personified" in the way they play their god games as a way of testing and teaching the Captain and Crew of the Starship Enterprise.
** Of the "enemy" races, only four appear more than once, but each of these demonstrates a side that shows they are "enemy" but not evil.
*** Klingons at their best are the Stout, a gruff and an almost testosterone-poisoned proud warrior race.
*** Romulans at their best are the High Men, with the noble Romulan Commander noting that in a more peaceful reality, he and Kirk would likely have been friends.
*** Orions at their best are the Cute, although poor Marta has little chance to be heroic.
*** The various Human and might-as-well-be-Human races are, of course, always the Mundane.
*** The Talosians, with their powers and ascetic ways, clearly fit the Fairy.
** In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Klingons serve as Stouts, humans are High Men, and Vulcans are Fairies. Compare this to ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' where humans drop down to highish Mundanes, Romulans serve as rarely seen High Men (if not especially admirable ones), and the Ferengi are a kind of GrotesqueCute.
** The Dominion, as a kind of EvilCounterpart to the Federation, has Jem-Hadar Stouts, Vorta Fairies, and Changeling (self-proclaimed) High Men.
** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' would later play this trope even further with the Xindi, a race of five technologically advanced species who all evolved on the same homeworld. There's a species that's clearly their equivalent of humans; a warlike, reptilian-humanoid species; an insectoid species that's very alien and inscrutable; a fairly pacifistic simian species, and a relatively peaceful, meditative species of manatee-like aquatic aliens. There was also a sixth race of avians who died out when their homeworld was destroyed.
* Would you believe the children's video ''Wee Sing in Sillyville''? (Purple) Pasha is Mundane, the (yellow) Spurtlegurgles are Fairy, the (blue) Twirlypops are High Men, the (red) Bittybooties are Stout, and the (green) Jingleheimers are Cute. Technically, they're all humans, but this is a PlanetofHats where the [[FantasticRacism most important distinction between people]] is their favorite colors.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Some of Moya's crew ''almost'' fits. D'Argo as ''Stout'', Zhaan as ''Fairy'', Rygel as ''Cute'', Aeryn as ''High Men'', John as ''Mundane''. On the other hand, the show plays with these roles/assumptions often: Rygel has some disgusting attributes (and special mental skills like hard-nosed negotiation), Zhaan performs some scientific duties in addition to the mystical/telepathic, Aeryn's race has attained great power but tends to use it for tyranny, and John's sharp mind and all-around competence belie his mundane status.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Early in, O'Neill is told that humans have taken the first step towards becoming "the fifth race"; and in the finale, Carter is told we've earned the role as any hope of saving the Milkyway would rest on us from then on. The closest fit to this trope would probably be:
** Ancients as "High Men" since they are the {{Precursors}} and are generally idealized (except when they're called out for being [[NeglectfulPrecursors neglectful]]).
** Nox as "Fairy" due to their invisible floating cities and ability to bring back the dead. None of this is magical, of course, but it's still far more impressive (and mystical-seeming) than the other advanced technologies in the verse.
** Asgard as "Stout" of the ProudWarriorRace variety, even though they are very technologically advanced and have shades of "High Men" or even "Fairy" at times
** Furlings as "Cute"; we know nothing about them, not even what they look like ("200" notwithstanding) but they sound adorable
** Humans as "Mundane", of course.
* ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'': There are hundreds of species in the [[TheFederation Systems Commonwealth]], but the most influential races can be categorized as such. Humans are naturally mundanes, though some of the genetically modified [[HumanSubspecies subspecies]] might qualify for other roles; the insectoid Than-thre-kull are stouts; the inventive but not too cautious [[MadScientist Perseids]] arguably cute; and the Vedrans who founded the Commonwealth in the first place were high men, though after they disappeared they gained a legendary reputation more along the lines of fairies. Meanwhile the [[NietzscheWannabe Nietzschean]] subspecies of human consider themselves to be [[{{Ubermensch}} high men]], but their SocialDarwinism and betrayal of the Commonwealth make them closer to the fallen.
* ''Series/{{Defiance}}'': Several of the Votan species have been noted to resemble fantasy races:
** Castithans have an entry on the SpaceElves page, but they act a bit more like High Men, or Fallen in the case of the Machiavellian Tarrs.
** Irathient are a bit of a blend, they're strong, proud warriors (or at least the Spirit Riders are, we saw some peaceful homesteaders in a flashback) like the Stout. They are deeply spiritual, some even have clairvoyant abilities, and have a connection to nature like Fairies. Possibly even some shades of the Savage. But they also seem the most human-like of the Votan.
** Indogenes are highly intelligent and responsible for most Votan tech like the Arks, force-blades (intended as [[LaserCutter surgical tools]], converted into [[LaserBlade weapons]] by the Castithans), and their own cybernetic implants. Kind of Fairy or competing with Castis for High Men.
** Liberata actually resemble dwarves physically and were once an economically powerful and war mongering race. But were conquered by the Castithans long ago and have turned towards generosity and servitude since then.
* In the PlanetaryRomance, high-fantasy influenced William Hartnell-era ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "The Web Planet", the different species on Vortis fit the bill:
** The human time travellers are the Mundanes. [[AudienceSurrogate As ever.]]
** The Menoptera are the Fairy race, beautiful and gentle-voiced creatures with the ability to fly. Wings play a significant part in their species's symbolism (losing the ability to fly is a mark of great shame, and the slave Menoptera have their wings pulled off), they eat glowing crystals, and create technology with a rather magical bent. They overlap somewhat with the High Men as the Optera, upon first seeing a Menoptera, regard them as gods (although the Menoptera aren't thrilled by this and spend most of their time trying to persuade them that they really aren't), and in that they 'uplift' the Optera over the course of the story.
** The Optera are the Stout race--short, plump, flightless, troglodytic, with sharp grunty voices. They have a tribalistic society greatly suspicious of outsiders, and while they are terrified of the sky, regard wings as a symbol of divinity. Played with in that the Menoptera know that they are the same species as the Optera, and their current state and behaviour is a result of living underground--after the Menoptera leader drags the Optera chief up onto the planet surface to live, she tells him that although he will never be able to fly, his children will be.
** The Zarbi are a weird example of the Cute race, on account of being antagonistic, and [[CreepyCute giant ants]]. Shorter than the other races and rather clumsy and gregarious, it soon becomes apparent that they aren't actually evil creatures, but non-sapient creatures of a similar intelligence to pigs, subverted by the EldritchAbomination the Animus. They communicate with each other with a mixture of strange beeping noises (apparently made by scraping a modified pair of legs on their bodies similar to crickets), and dancing, and their primary weapon is a larval stage of the species that has a gun-like appendage on its snout for defence. Once the time travellers work out how to break the control the Animus has on them, Vicki even takes one as a pet for a couple of episodes, naming it Zombo and talking about how cute he is to the Doctor.
** It should be noted that while the Menoptera represent the High Men to the Optera, the High Man to the human travellers is the Doctor, a member of a mysterious otherworldly civilisation who possesses seemingly impossible knowledge and abilities, yet still appears basically human. In "The Web Planet", this is demonstrated by his unique ability to communicate with the Animus using his psychic abilities, as well as his ability to control the Zarbi with some help from his RingOfPower.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
* The UrExample -- that also influenced Tolkien's work -- is Myth/NorseMythology.
** '''Stout:''' Jotnar (Giants) -- The most gruff of all the races.
** '''Fairy:''' Alfar (Elves) and Dvergar (Dwarves) -- The most magical of the races (Norse dwarves are craftsmen and magicians more often than warriors).
** '''High Men:''' Aesir and Vanir -- The Aesir are the mightiest of the races and the Vanir are the most knowledgeable.
** '''Mundane:''' Humans
** '''Cute:''' Landvaettir and House Vaettir (Spirits) -- They may appear weak, but they are incredibly powerful and magical.
*** Alternatively the Gods are Fairy, being the most innately supernatural and magically powerful race, Álfar are High Men, being smack between gods and humans in almost every way and being essentially "humans, but better", and Dvergar are Cute, as in Norse mythology they are characterized by their craftiness (particularly with ironworks) rather than their stoutness and was often used for comic-relief.
* Before Tolkienian fantasy became the norm, the UrExample of popular fantasy -- which influenced the work of C. S. Lewis even more than did Myth/NorseMythology -- was the [[AncientGrome Golden Age of Myth]] from Myth/ClassicalMythology.
** '''Stout:''' {{Cyclop|s}}es -- gruff and tough and lovers of good wine, giants rather than dwarves, but some of them were forgemasters either helping the [[UltimateBlacksmith smithing god Hesphaestus]] or forging thunderbolts for Zeus
** '''Fairy:''' [[NatureSpirit Nymphs]] -- [[PlantPerson dryads]], [[ApparentlyHumanMerfolk naiads]], oreads, etc. -- immortal or incredibly long-lived, closer to the powers of nature, and frequent consorts to the gods.
** '''High Men:''' [[OurCentaursAreDifferent Centaurs]] -- in the original Greek myths, they were essentially a [[BarbarianTribe monster race for the heroes to kill]], but in later Roman additions they begin to come across as a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}}, and they have been treated this way ever since.
** '''High Men:''' Human heroes -- in the original Greek myths, [[TheAce heroic humans]] were almost their own species separate from '''mundane''' humanity.
** '''Mundane:''' Humans -- obviously.
** '''Cute:''' FaunsAndSatyrs -- in the original Greek myths, satyrs were terrifying and belonged in the '''stout''' category, but as their trickster side was played up by later Greek and then Roman tales and they were merged with the gentler Sileni, they changed into a more comic and ultimately '''cute''' version.
* It also works for the various races to inhabit Ireland in [[Myth/CelticMythology Celtic Mythology]]:
** '''High Men:''' The Nemedians, Partholoin, and people of Cessair. All of them are sort of ThePrecursors, shaping the land itself in prehistoric times. The Nemedians are even the ancestors of the next three, which are...
** '''Stout:''' The Fir Bolg, a giant-like race who escaped slavery to build a well-ordered society in Ireland. Notable for their strong spears, they were prepared to fight to the last man when the island was invaded by...
** '''Fairy:''' The Tuatha De Dannan. The ancient Irish gods, masters of druid magic, and close enough to nature to become the original [[TheFairFolk faeries]].
** '''Mundane:''' The Milesians, otherwise known as the Mac Miled, representing the Gaelic culture, but also humans as a whole. A little different from the average example, [[BadassNormal considering that they were tough enough to take on the gods (and win!) upon their arrival, and produced many generations of larger-than-life heroes afterwards.]]
** Which would leave '''Cute''' for the people who are alive today. Ancient heroes who for one reason or another survived to the time of St. Patrick remarked on how small and weak the human race had become. It also applies to the fairies as well, when it seems that the word conjures images of leprechauns and wee sprites rather than mystical gods.
* Cherubims in Christianity have four heads representing each of the major animal groups. Lucifer is a Cherubim with five, with the fifth one representing the missing one.
** '''Mundane:''' Ox or calf, representing the domesticated land mammals
** '''Stout:''' Lion, representing the predatory land mammals
** '''Cute:''' Man, an aversion of the trope
** '''Fairy:''' Eagle, representing the air
** '''High Men:''' Serpent, representing the water and reptilian animals, who Lucifer's theoretical extra head is
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' is the TropeMaker, more or less (after shamelessly rewriting [=LotR=], which in turn plundered the common domain to shamelessly rewrite mythology and folklore.)
** From the 3.5e PHB races, we get:
*** Dwarves as '''Stout''', as are half-orcs, the traditional choices for players who want to play strong and physically-oriented bruisers. Dwarves are typically the more benevolent variant of the Stout -- gruff, honorable, strong and durable, and culturally solid, down-to-earth and without much in the way of magic -- while half-orcs are combine human and orc physiology and culture to be more calm and organized than their orc parents, but at the same time noticeably bigger, stronger and more martial and aggressive than humans. They are both archetypal fighters and (in the half-orcs' case) barbarians, and both tend to value strength, martial skill and honor on the battlefield.
*** Elves as '''High Men''', being traditionally the most civilized and magically adept race in any given setting.
*** Humans as '''Mundane'''. Generally speaking, humanity's main schtick tends to center around their lack of leaning towards any moral or cultural pole and their status as [[JackOfAllStats Jacks of All Stats]] and masters of none.
*** Halflings as '''Cute''', as well as being roguish sorts.
*** Gnomes as '''Fairy''', being the only race that gets the natural ability to cast spells.
** The 4th Edition PHB races follow a similar pattern:
*** '''Stout''': Dwarf, Dragonborn. Dwarves are the classic Stout race. The {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}} of the Dragonborn also qualifies, though they're multiclassed with High Men. Goliaths and Half-Orcs from the PHB 2 also fit here, and one can also make an argument for the Shifters. Minotaurs, from the PHB 3, sit firmly on here. The [[MechanicalLifeforms Warforged]] also fit neatly into this category, as well.
*** '''Fairy''': Eladrin and Tieflings. Eladrin are the magicial elves, so they fit Fairy to a T. Tieflings are a darker example, being humans with diabolic traits resulting from a DealWithTheDevil. Forgotten Realms gives us Genasi, elemental blooded beings, and the [=PHB2=] also gives us Devas, reincarnated divine beings, while the PHB 3 adds the Wilden who are guardians of nature and Shardminds who are crystals held together by pure thought.
*** '''Mundane''': Human. Naturally.
*** '''High Men''': Elf, Half-Elf. The forest-loving elves and the HalfHumanHybrid half-elves can easily be placed here. The PHB 3 adds the Githzerai, mosaic folk from the Elemental Chaos (but oddly enough, not the Githyanki).
*** '''Cute''': Halfling. The short, sneaky guys. Gnomes from the PHB 2 also qualify, with some multiclass with Fairy. Heroes of the Feywild gives us Pixies, which are Cute Fairies.
** As for the original game, we had:
*** '''Stout''': Dwarves again.
*** '''Fairy''': Elves, with elements of High Men, and could wield both steel and magic depending on which "mode" they were in.
*** '''Mundane''': Humans again.
*** '''Cute''': Hobbits/Halflings.
** Classic ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' also follows this with its core character classes. Fighters and Barbarians map over to Stouts (even halfling fighters tend to be gruff), magic-users map over to Fairies to the point that dwarves cannot wield magic, Clerics have the jack-of-all-trades aspects of Mundanes as well as being almost exclusively human in most settings, Paladins and Rangers are classic High Men (at first, no race except human could play them), and Thieves and Bards are a combat-capable sort of Cute -- which is why the classic Thief races are halfling and kender.
** The ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' setting has too many races and too many cultural distinctions within them to fit easily into this framework, but the Five Nations of Galifar manage to fit the classic roles on their own:
*** Breland: Mundanes. Down-to-earth, forward-thinking, industrialized, and culturally familiar to the reader.
*** Thrane: High Men. Proud, shiny, pious, and somewhat overbearing.
*** Aundair: Fairy. Overtly magical, agricultural, and closer to nature.
*** Karranath: Stout. Dour, industrious, and pragmatic.
*** Cyre: Cute. TheWoobie of the Five Nations, enduring, and preserving the culture of their now-destroyed homeland through sheer stubbornness.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'':
** Much like in ''D&D'', the core player races fit this neatly into these archetypes.
*** '''Stout''': The proud and honorable dwarves, as always. This role they share with the half-orcs, who are notably larger and stronger than their human parents and have been driven by the scorn of other races to become a culture of warriors, pariahs and barbarians seeking to make a place for themselves in the world through might and arms. Half-orcs primarily worship Gorum, Golarion's chief WarGod.
*** '''Fairy''': The gnomes. They're the core race most connected to [[LandOfFaerie the First World]] of the fey: they started as fairy creatures themselves before entering the material world in the wake of [[ColonyDrop the Earthfall]] and associated cataclysms. They've adapted to being flesh-and-blood creatures, but their magical heritage and origin are still visible through their hair, [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair which comes in every color of the rainbow]], and the fact that strictly speaking they don't age: rather, they stay lively, vibrant and slightly manic as long as they experience new things and stimuli, but quite literally bleach and die if they fall too deep into routine and ennui.
*** '''Mundane''': This role is of course filled by the {{humans|Are Average}}, which as always are very much the middle-of-the-road species choice, alongside the half-elves, who while decidedly more magical than their human parents are notably less physically and culturally magic than other species.
*** '''High Men''': The elves are not ''strictly'' this -- the most important magical precursors of the setting are [[{{Atlantis}} Azlant]] and secondarily the Runelords of Thassilon and the Shory Empire, all human civilizations -- but they are regardless an ancient, refined, reclusive and magically gifted people that hold themselves aloof from other nations and species, and who have spent a significant portion of their history hiding in a number of {{Hidden Elf Village}}s.
*** '''Cute''': The halflings. They're the smallest of the main sapient species -- even the gnomes stand a bit taller -- have never had their own nations or cities and have been a side note at best in much of the world's history. To add insult to injury, they're one of the most favored species in the slave trade, and many halflings live as slaves in TheEmpire of Cheliax. Despite this, their determination, good humor, attentiveness, cleverness and resourcefulness have allowed them to carve comfortable niches for themselves throughout the civilized world.
** In ''TabletopGame/{{Starfinder}}'', most of the main races fade in the background and are replaced as core choices by new species more closely linked to the setting's science fiction themes.
*** '''Stout''': The Vesk, burly and fiercely militaristic [[LizardFolk reptilian aliens]] whose first action after developing reliable space travel was to conquer the rest of their solar system, and whose first action after obtaining reliable FasterThanLightTravel was to go on a crusade against the worlds of the main setting. In the modern setting they maintain a very proud culture focused primarily on [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy martial prowess and personal honor]], and worship a WarGod above all others.
*** '''Fairy''' is split between the Shirren and the androids. The former are telepathic InsectoidAliens who used to be part of a classic HordeOfAlienLocusts before breaking free and embracing individuality and free will, and who are the most biologically and visually alien player species -- among other things, they have fully insectoid heads and [[BizarreAlienSexes three sexes]], and start their lives as wormlike grubs. The latter are artificially created replicants equal parts technology and biology, have a mix of coolant and nanites instead of blood, and find persistent difficulty in interacting with fully organic species -- especially when it comes to reading and expressing emotions, which they aren't terribly good at.
*** '''Mundane''': Humans, as per usual. No particular gimmicks, strengths or limitations, and for obvious reasons the most "normal" of the main playable species.
*** '''High Men''': This is split between four-armed Kasathas and the Lashunta. The former are an ancient and proud species with a society highly focused on tradition, rituals and personal dignity. The Kasathas were also the first Solarians, a loose order or traditions of {{Magic Knight}}s who study and worship stars, black holes, entropy and creation, and harness these forces to create armor and weapons made of tangible energy. The Lashunta are psychically and magically adept and heirs to one of the oldest and most sophisticated civilizations in the Pact Worlds. In the modern day, the Lashunta city-states are known chiefly for their beautiful architecture and renowned universities.
*** '''Cute''': The Ysoki RatMen. They're not very physically impressive -- they're about the size of gnomes and not very strong or durable -- but have firmly made a place for themselves in interplanetary culture thanks to their intelligence, adeptness for machinery, cheerful attitudes and intense loyalty to their families, homes and companions, as well as their ability to endure hardship and misfortune with a laugh and renewed determination.
* Almost every ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' {{tabletop game|s}} has exactly five clans/auspices/paths/etc. of the species under discussion; the sole exception is ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'', with six seemings (and only four Courts (the Seasonal Courts), or two courts (the Sun and Moon Courts), or a different four courts (the Directional Courts)). In the core-book ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' was like this too, but supplements added the Zeka (radioactive Prometheans) and the Unfleshed (artificial, instead of made from human corpses), as well as more Refinements than the 5 in the core. There are usually five political factions, as well, with the "black hat" (evil) group usually being an evil faction as opposed to a race.
** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' is an exception. Hunters have no 'inherent' groups, and have ''twelve'' political factions presented in the corebook alone (plus at least twenty professions).
** ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' seems to attest to the end of the five-by-five system. There are five Thresholds Sin-Eaters can be linked to once they return from the dead... and eight Archetypes they can follow to determine their role as one of the Bound.
* Similarly, the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' was built around five different races of supernatural beings, each of which had their own game -- ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'', ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'', ''TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion'', and ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming''. After ''Changeling'' and ''Wraith'' were discontinued, White Wolf tried to fill the gap (maintaining the "five races" structure) with ''TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning'' and ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen''. At their core, four of the five "races" fall neatly into each of the five categories. Werewolves are the Stouts, gruff and masculine and each tribe a proud warrior race; Vampires are the Fairies, with even their most brutal clans seeming feminine in comparison to their enemy race the garou, and Vampires the race that seems most removed from the mortal concerns of the other races; Mages are the High Men, with their approach to magic less like that of a Fair Folk and more like the idealized, romanticized magic-wielding humans in fantasy fiction; and the original Changelings are the Cute, even their ugly sluagh and towering trolls (this is not true of the new incarnation of Changeling, ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'', in which Changelings are mentally damaged trauma survivors). It is fitting that Wraith, the one "race" that does not fit into the Five Races, was soon replaced by Hunter the Reckoning, which are classic Mundanes, thereby completing the set.
** The five Auspices in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' fit very well into this: Ahroun, the Warrior, is Stout; Theurge, the Moon Dancer, is Fairy; Galliard, the Storyteller, is Mundane; Philodox, the Judge, is High Men; and Ragabash, the Trickster, is Cute.
** If you see vampire Clans as these, we have:
*** Brujah and Gangrel as Stout, as they are the most combat-oriented non-magical vampire Clans.
*** Tremere and Lasombra as Fairy, being two Clans that specify in sorcery: being it BloodMagic or CastingAShadow.
*** Pander and Caitiff as Mundane, because they are the most commonplace vampires with mediocre abilities.
*** Ventrue, Tzimisce and Salubri as High Men, with the first two seeng themselves as MasterRace (and the whole AboveGoodAndEvil thing of Tzimisce philosophy) and Salubri have strong emphasis on EnlightenmentSuperpowers.
*** Toreador, Malkavian and Nosferatu as Cute, all for different reasons. Toreador are CulturedBadass types who embody the VampiresAreSexGods thing, Malkavian are a whole Clan of CloudCuckooLander TalkativeLoon guys and Nosferatu, despite their hideous appearance (LooksLikeOrlok ''at best'') are the closest thing to a FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire in the setting.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' features seven kinds of playable ''Exalted''. Of the five main types, Solar Exalted are the High Men, Lunar Exalted the Stout, Sidereal Exalted the Fairy, and the Dragon Blooded the most Mundane ones. The fifth kind, however, breaks the pattern, as the Abyssal Exalted are more interested in causing the end of the world than in being Cute. [[http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0001.html Most of them, anyway...]] Of the two optional types, Alchemical Exalted are Stout, while Infernal Exalted don't appear to fit the pattern.
** Infernal and Abyssal exaltations are corrupted Solar ones, so they're "fallen" High Men. The game mechanics reflect this by having the castes and abilities very close in effect to those of Solars.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Alternity}}'' (a short-lived TSR project whose material was recycled into TabletopGame/D20Modern/Future), there were a number of races, including one clear stout (primitive, clawed brutes) and one clear fairy (light-weight psions). Humans were mundanes, while the other races didn't fit the standard categories: techies with scaly armor, agile fliers, and ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'' style cyborgs.
** To specify, they are:
*** ''Stout'': A race that bears a strong resemblance to Wookies called Weren, and another race of agile fliers called Sesheyan.
*** ''Fairy'': The psychic race of the setting, bearing a strong resemblance to Grays, called Fraal
*** ''Mundane'': Humans, duh.
*** ''The High Men'': the race of ''Neuromancer'' cyborgs listed above, called Mechalus by the setting.
*** ''The Cute'': Possibly a subversion, they're a race of lizard people called T'sa.
** Subsequent games based off of the system--TabletopGame/GammaWorld and TabletopGame/DarkMatter--follow a similar pattern, which is usually just the races mentioned above mechanically with different fluff.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'''s different settings often drift towards this.
** As a good example, the Kamigawa block:
*** '''Mundane''': Humans, as they often are.
*** '''Stout''': The snakefolk, or Orochi-bito, consists of snake warriors and shamans. They tend toward being [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy proud warrior race people]].
*** '''High Men''': The soratami, or cloudfolk. Besides generally being quite good at everything they do, and literally living high in the clouds, [[BreakTheHaughty they think they're better than everybody else.]]
*** '''Fairies''': The foxfolk, or kitsune-bito. They have a lot of clerics and archers. They're physically smaller than humans.
*** '''Cute''': Here's the main subversion: Akki (goblins) and nezumi-bito (ratfolk) both share the ground between cute and AlwaysChaoticEvil. Akki also have a little stout thrown in, whereas nezumi show minor tendencies towards fairy or mundane.
** Of course, Magic generally tends toward having ''six'' races in any given setting, one for each colour plus humans (who appear in all colours).
** The ''Lorwyn''/''Shadowmooor'' double-block--particularly the ''Lorwyn'' part -- was fairly explicitly this, with:
*** '''Mundane''': Kithkin (basically short humans)
*** '''Stout''': Giants, although they were more of a secondary race. Among the five primary tribes, the Merfolk (Merrow) were a sort of intellectual variation on the Stout archetype.
*** '''High Men''': Elves ''think'' they are this, although they're a bit too villainous to fit in properly.
*** '''Fairies''': [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Fae, singular "Faerie"]]. Also [[TheFairFolk pretty damn evil]].
*** '''Cute''': Goblins (or Boggarts, as the local variety were called) are probably the closest thing, being silly comic relief-types, as goblins often are in Magic.
* ''Toys/{{Xevoz}}'' is both a line of action-figures AND a tabletop game, utilising six races rather than five and averting many of the usual associations by way of its ''sci-fi'' setting, apart from a Mundane race and a robotic race representing the Stouts. [[spoiler: Until you learn that the robotic race is really Mundanes in cybernetic bodies, making it FiveRaces after all.]]\\\
Two new races were introduced towards the end of Xevoz, to reinforce the fantasy element; one of them is very similar to the Mundanes but magically empowered, making them something between High Men and Fair Folk.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' also has five races, though they break down a bit differently: Stout (dwarfs), High Men (elves), Mundane (humans), Low Men ([[OurOrcsAreDifferent orks]]), and Big Mean [[FutureSlang Fraggers]] ([[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]]). Fairy is reserved for somewhat further-out races, and anything Cute was either killed off a while ago or is now starring in some twisted simsense flick.
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Talislanta}}'' game system averted this trope so hard, they even used it in their advertising ("No Elves"). Granted, some of their races do fall into one of the five categories above (for example, [[WingedHumanoid Muses]] are Fairies and [[GadgeteerGenius Yassan]] are Stouts) but with ''several dozen'' species of humanoids available as [=PCs=], that was bound to happen to some of them.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has its own, equally twisted version:
** Imperial Guard -- Mundane
** Space Marines -- High Men in general, though now subsets exist with the Chapter Codexes, the first real variation being the Space Wolves and Grey Knights (see below). It is unknown if future Chapters will produce more variants.
** Space Wolves -- Stouts with some Highmen, but when you ride into melee on the back of giant wolves howling for glory in battle, you are definitely more Stout than Highman. Especially in a space game.
** Chaos Space Marines -- High Men, with spiky bits (and very evil). Followers of Khorne and Nurgle combine this seamlessly with the Stout. Especially Khornates, who are OneManArmy ProudWarriorRaceGuys who are arguably the greatest warriors in the canon.
** Eldar -- Fairy/High Men
** Dark Eldar -- Fairy/High Men with even ''more'' spiky bits, and even eviler
** Orks -- Stout
** Daemons of Chaos -- Fairy/High Men
** Tyranids -- Mundane/Stout depending on which part of the army you're looking at
** Necrons -- Stout, with a subversion of High Men thrown in for good measure
** Witch Hunters -- Mundane with a dash of Fairy and High Women in the form of the Sisters of Battle
** Daemon Hunters -- High Men turned up to 11 with the Grey Knights, and then you look at their elite units which are psychic for some Fairy action.
** Tau -- Mundane but with big, big guns and mechs up the wazoo.
** Not anymore, but earlier editions had the Squats, which were a copy of the dwarfs in the fantasy editions- Stouts
* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'': Traveller has numerous sapient species, but one can make an effort
** Mundane = Solomani and Vilani, two separate cultures of real-life humans with few, if any, changes.
** High Men = Zhodani, a third group of isolationist humans with PsychicPowers.
** Stout = The proud and martial Aslan, the aggressive and bellicose Vargr and the militaristically xenophobic K'kree.
** Fairy = The immensely powerful Ancients and the Hivers. The Ancients are closer to {{Eldritch Abomination}}s.
** Cute = Maybe Droyne, despite [[spoiler: being descended from the Ancients]].
* On the planet of ''TabletopGame/NewHorizon'', there are actually ''six'' races, but they generally follow this trope. Jotun Wafans are Stout, Aesir Wafans are cute, Vanir Wafans are high, Medeans are fairy, and Olympians are mundane. Prometheans might be either high or mundane, depending on how you look at it; they're cyborgs.
* In the "Dungeons & Toons" setting for ''TabletopGame/{{Toon}}'' there are four races: Dogs are Mundane, Badgers are Stout, Squirrels are Fairies and Mice are Cute. High Men just aren't wacky enough.
* In ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'', the three most prominent races are Men (Mundane), Naga (High Men/Fairy) and Nezumi (Cute), distantly followed by Ogres (Stout) and far, far more distant (numerically and geographically) Ashalan (Fairy/High Men). There was also an alliance of Five Races in the past: Zokujin (Mundane), Kenku (High Men), Trolls (Stout), Ningyo (Cute) and Kitsu (Fairy). This is muddied by the fact that each race other supposedly once had a golden age where their culture, warriors and magic all flourished, followed by an eventual collapse, long before the Kami founded Rokugan and united the tribes of men into an empire.
* Swedish RPG ''TabletopGame/{{Eon}}'' not only have the regular five races, but different tribes, clans, lineages and cultures within the five races can often also be sorted into one of the five race dynamic.
** '''Stout:''' Dwarves, but especially clan Ghor and Roghan who embody most of the classic Dwarf stereotypes. Among the Elves, the forest-dwelling Henéa tribe is primarily composed of Stouts, being a territorial tribe of savages, more akin to traditional FairFolk than modern Wood Elves, that even the other Elves fear. Among the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Tiraks]], the regular Tiraks as well as the Trukhs have shades of this, doubly so for the Bazirk and Frakk lineages... though, in regards to Trukhs of lineage Frakk, "stout" might not be a fully applicable word as they're more comparable to hulking, giant, muscle-bound bears of Orcs on steroids...
** '''Fairy:''' Elves, and especially so Sanari, who also pull double duty as High Men, as well as Kiriya, who treasure fine arts, culture and love towards all living beings above all else, and Léaram, who many humans would swear are supernaturally gifted when it comes to smithing and combat.[[note]]They're not, they've just had ''a lot'' of time to perfect the arts.[[/note]] But aside from the Elves, the Dwarven clan Drezin can also be sorted into the "Fairy" category, being the most magically advanced of the Dwarf clans and the one furthest removed from traditional Dwarf stereotypes.
** '''Mundane:''' Humans, though depending on where you are in the world they can (unusually) be so varied and different in culture and beliefs that them being "Mundane" becomes a very subjective concept. In addition, Dwarves of the clan Zolod, Elves of the Pyar tribe and Tiraks of the Manarkh lineage, who are all noted to have integrated with human society, can be sorted into this category.
** '''High Men:''' The Sanari Elves ''exemplify'' this category while combining it with Fairy; being the most magically advanced people bar none, not to mention the most secretive; it's implied that they've even uncovered some of the secrets of the world, but if asked will offer nothing but a Mona Lisa-esque smile. Thism also get in on this, essentially being a vassal tribe to the Sanari. Both of these races are also the stand-in for the setting's High Elves.
** '''Cute:''' The Missla, being a race of perky and plucky child-sized beings with big, almond-shaped eyes and long, pointed ears are quite prone to induce CutenessProximity, particularily (and humorously) among the two metre tall Kragg barbarians, and if the Kraggs' BerserkButton of abusing Misslas isn't because "Misla" means "Godsent" in their language, then it's probably because of sheer [[PapaWolf protective]] [[MamaBear instincts]]... To a lesser extent, the [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Gûrd]] people of the Tiraks can also count: Though their males are, at best, UglyCute, their women are closer to {{Cute Monster Girl}}s with their CuteLittleFangs, claws and light fur.
* Another Swedish RPG ''TabletopGame/MutantYearZero'' has four racial types players can choose from depending on the Rule Book. These races also have their own tribes and social structures depending on what they are.
** '''Mundane''': The Mutants are considered the most Mundane race in the game as they were the only one of the four races to truly grow up and experience their world as it was; a hellscape filled with terrible and monstrous creatures.
** '''Stout''': The Animal Mutants are effectively the Beast Men of ''Year Zero'''s world. Dived by tribal links that originate from their overarching species like Cats, Dogs, Apes, Deer, Rodents, Bears, Rabbits, Badgers and Reptiles. They're often considered the most primitive of the intelligent races due to their [[FurryReminder animistic tendencies]].
** '''Fairy''': The Robots are mostly associated with being ''Year Zero'''s version of Elves, considering how foreign and mysterious they are compared to the rest of the world. Their use and understanding of pre-apocalypse technology also sets them apart from any and all other factions in the game also.
** '''High Men''': Ironically just as The Robots are considered the High Men of ''Year Zero'''s World, and even though they've got no special powers like the rest, The Humans are seen as their world's version of Myth, due to how rare and abnormally alien they are to all ther races. They're vastly superior to all other races in all forms of technology and stats.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' has this, if done often unusally:
** Stout: Burmecians are a mix of this, with a bit of High Men, breaking [[AnimalStereotypes the stereotypes associated with Rats]]. They [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy like very much war and fights]], with the exception of the the much more peaceful Cleyran offshoot of them. But the Cleyrans still produce a lot of powerfull warriors, despite being relatively pacifistic, and living in seclusion. The High Men traits come from their sophistication, and the fact they're one of the more ancient civilisations on Gaia. The [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarves]] also fit this archetype, at least visualy, being powerfully built(they look quite like the ogre enemies in game, but less monstrous and ferocious). But it's subverted by them living in sunlight and close to forests, and considering both to be sacred. They seem also to be pretty peacefull.
** Fairy: Qu are a strange, highly magical species, who follow a philosophy and way of life concentrated on discovering and eating new foods. It's not to be laught at, as they [[TheAssimilator can eat their enemies]] [[PowerCopying and absorb their abilities]]. The Black Mages can also fit this archetype, although [[spoiler: the fact many of them work, albeit unwiligly for Kuja and Brahne, makes them a bit [[TheFairFolk Eldritch]]]].
** Mundane: The Humans of course, although many of them have unusual visual traits, like Brahne's and Amarant's blue skin, or Marcus' pointy ears, and tusks. Most of the Beast-Folk, aside from the mentioned above Burmecians, also fit this archetype, being completely integrated into human society.
** High Men: The Summoners, a species very proficient in magic, that was close to nature, and the planet Gaia itself, capable of summoning powerful, god-like beings into battle, and were very similar in looks to Humans, aside from the horn on their forehead. They were very peaceful despite their great power, living in their HiddenElfVillage, Madain Sari, bringing them pretty close to the [[OurElvesAreDifferent elf archetype]]. [[spoiler: Somewhat subverted, as all of them are extinct exacly because Garland feared their great power, aside from Eiko and Garnet.]]
** Cute: Moogles, are as usually the series recurring version of this. Black Mages also count partialy, [[spoiler: aside from what was written above.]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has this: Humans as the Mundane, Ronso as the Stout, Guado as the Fairy, Al Bhed as the High Men (they represent what Humans really are, when the roots of the Yevon religion are revealed), and the Hypello fill the role of the Cute.
* The five races of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI''--Hume, Elvaan, Tarutaru, Galka and Mithra--vary somewhat from the established roles, but they do reinforce the five-as-magic-number nature of the trope:
** Stout: Galka ({{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s who are renowned for strength and are essential to the mining side of Bastok's economic success)
** Fairy: Tarutaru (Highly magically inclined, depicted as close to nature, though not to the extent Mithra are)
** Mundane: Hume (While depicted as the driving intellectual force behind industrial development, this race is typically self-absorbed and prone to putting personal ambition over other concerns)
** High Men: Elvaan (a less pure representation: While having an arrogant and warlike attitude, they place value on honor and are less individualistic than the Humes)
** Cute: This one is split between Tarutaru (overlapping with Fairy) and Mithra (a more FanService-y portrayal). The former is a pretty straight portrayal, incorporating a sense of spiritual purity with wildly varying levels of childishness; the writers seem to like to combine reasons to take them seriously with comments and behavior meant to make them hard to take seriously. As for the latter, these {{Cat Girl}}s tend to be varied in personality, but are in-touch-with-nature, hunter, FragileSpeedster types originating from a somewhat xenophobic culture.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'''s races are all analogues of the ones from FFXI listed above, in addition to being further divided into two subraces.
** Mundane: '''Hyur''', analogous to humans and FFXI's Hume race. Non-native to Eorzea, but still it's largest race. Can be divided into '''Midlanders''' (lowland-living, slighter builds, fairer skin) and '''Highlanders''' (from the mountains, huskier builds and complexions).
** High Men: '''Elezen''', [[OurElvesAreDifferent tall pointy-eared folk]] that have lived the longest on Eorzea. Can be devided into '''Wildwood''' (lives in the forests, have human-like skin tone) and '''Duskwight''' (lives in the caves, have skin tones ranging from pale grey to obsidian black).
** Stout: '''Roegadyn''', large and muscular people with a maritime tradition. Can be divided into '''Sea Wolves''' (from the northern islands, have blue and green skin tones) and '''Hellsguard''' (live around volcanoes, have reddish skin tones)
** Fairy: '''Miqo'te''', a race with [[CatGirl distinct feline tails and ears]] that arrived on Eorzea during an ice age. Can be divided into '''Seekers of the Sun''' (diurnal, slitted pupils, human-like skin tones) and '''Keepers of the Moon''' (nocturnal, rounded pupils, skin tones more similar to Duskwight Elezens).
** Cute: '''Lalafell''', small-statured people with a history in trade and possessed of high intelligence. Can be divided into '''Plainsfolk''' (fairer skin, history in agriculture) and '''Dunesfolk''' (darker skin, history in nomadic tribes and trade).
** Joining these in the Heavensward expansion are the '''Au Ra''', a race of [[DraconicHumanoid dragonkin]] as High Men. The white-scaled '''Raen''' are traditionally from Doma, a country that, as we see in the Stormblood expansion, [[{{Wutai}} resembles feudal Japan]]; '''Xaela''' are tribal nomads with black scales, many from warmongering tribes. Further complicating this dynamic is their sexual dimorphism; males can grow as tall as most Elezen and some Roegadyn and are [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy gruff, masculine, and muscular,]] putting them closer to The Stout. Females, on the other hand, can be even shorter than Miqo'te, and are graceful, demure, and composed, putting them closer to The Fairy.
** Pureblood '''Garleans''' are a combination of Stout and High Men. The Stout comes from their physical capabilities—Garleans are [[LightningBruiser taller, faster, and stronger]] than all the other civilized races, but are incapable of using magic. The High Men part instead comes from them being the most technologically advanced race in the world.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'''s Ivalice setting fits this trope: Hume are Mundane, Bangaa are lizardmen that mix stout (they're strong) and mundane (they're almost as adaptable as humans), Moogles are Cute (though have the technological advancements usually found in Stout races), Nu Mou (dog/donkey/camel-mixed people with tons of magical prowess but not much else) are Fairy, and Viera (OneGenderRace of bunny women) are High Men--being a combination of naturalist magic users and elf-like ProudWarriorRaceGuy archers. Later games added the [[CuteMonsterGirl Gria]], a Cute/Stout hybrid, the Aegyl--angelic High Men (although unlike most their lifespan is ''shorter'' than humans), a Stout/High Men hybrid in the form of the physically adept but spiritual Garif, and Seeq--stout boar people.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' tries to give each side one of each category.
** The Alliance has '''Dwarves''' for Stout, '''Night Elves''' for Fairy, '''Humans''' for Mundane, '''Draenei''' for High Men, and '''Gnomes''' for Cute. '''Worgen''' overlap with both Stout and Mundane, but they don't fit the scheme well because, as werewolves, they more resemble a traditionally evil race--the creators of the game have noted that they break the usual Alliance/Horde pattern in this regard.
** The Horde, meanwhile, does play around with the concept a bit (being generally comprised of races that are usually portrayed as AlwaysChaoticEvil). The template does still apply, though, and ''roughly'' speaking it runs '''Orcs''' as Mundane (for obvious reasons), '''Tauren''' as the High Men (being the most spiritual of the peoples and the example the Orcs and Trolls look up to), '''Blood Elves''' as Fairy (being an offshoot of the magically-inclined High Elves), '''Trolls''' as Stout (note how often trolls have their backs against the wall and get out of it), and '''Goblins''' as a sort of UglyCute. This still gets mixed up a bit, though, and the Horde is generally allowed to play around with their "roles" more than the Alliance is.
*** The only ones who really can't be pidgeonholed like this at all are the undead humans of the Forsaken--they have inverted, played-with elements of the Mundane, Fairy and Stout all at once.
** And now we have the neutral race, '''Pandaren'''. They're mostly Stout, but have elements of High Men (The Wandering Isle and the Mists of Pandaria) and Cute (because they're anthropomorphized pandas!) Pandaria also introduces several NPC races, such as the '''Grummles''' (Cute), '''Jinyu''' (Fairy), and '''Hozen''' (Stout).
** Concerning Allied Races for the Alliance, we have '''Dark Iron Dwarves''' as Stout (with some possible High Men elements), '''Kul Tirans''' as Mundane with an extra touch of Stout, '''Mechagnomes''' as Cute, '''Void Elves''' as Fairy and '''Lightforged Draenei''' as High Men.
** For Horde Allied Races, we have '''Mag'har Orcs''' who could overlap with Stout and Mundane, '''Zandalari Trolls''' as High Men (they're considered the most powerful tribe of Trolls), '''Highmountain Tauren''' overlapping '''High Men''' and '''Stout''', '''Nightborne''' as Fairy, and '''Vulpera''', obviously, as Cute.
** ''Shadowlands'' introduced the four Covenants - not races per se, but rather the cultures and forms taken by the souls of the dead in the eponymous spirit world. The servile '''kyrian''' are Mundane, the warlike '''Necrolords''' are Stout, the aristocratic '''venthyr''' are High Men and the nature-loving Night Fae are Cute. And, being spirits given form by death magic, all four Covenants can be considered Fairy.
* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin2'' is a textbook example with its five playable races. The humans are obviously Mundane. The elves are Fairy, being mostly classic Wood Elves with a few unique attributes added such as their use of BloodMagic and CannibalismSuperpower. The lizards are Stout, being proud warriors, the physically strongest of the major races, and ruling a belligerent empire constantly at odds with the other polities. The dwarves are Cute, not being as powerful as the other races but being gifted seamen and magicians (dwarf characters are also generally friendly, with the dwarf party member being the only one who's a NiceGuy from the get-go). Finally, the Eternals are High Men, an extremely advanced, immortal, magically-inclined race that comes back in the form of the corrupted Voidwoken and threatens to overwhelm the rest of the setting. Note there are other races in the setting, most notably imps, orcs, and demons, but they're in the background.
* ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'':
** [[PlantPeople Florans]] and [[MechanicalLifeforms Glitches]] are Stouts: Florans are warlike in nature, while Glitches are robots that originate from medieval societies.
** Apexes and [[BirdPeople Avians]] are the High Men: Apexes are genetically engineered to be more intelligent (at the cost of their bodies reverting to ape-like forms) and Avians are a highly pious race.
** [[FishPeople Hylotls]] are Fairies, being a race dedicated to peace and enlightenment.
** [[{{CloudCuckoolander}} Humans]] and [[CelestialBody Novakids]] are Cute: Humans tend to have the most lighthearted item examination dialogue [[HumansAreSurvivors despite losing their home planet]], while Novakids lack tact and long-term memory but have an infectious sense of adventure.
** Humans also fall under Mundane for being having the least outlandish-looking appearance and technology.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series typically has about five (occasionally six) races that occasionally change from game to game. Generally speaking, the Hylians -- effectively real-life humans except for their PointyEars, and Link and Zelda's species -- are the '''Mundane'''; the ancient, knowledgeable and (in ''Breath of the Wild'') technologically advanced Sheikah, who often serve as protectors of Hyrule, are the '''High Men'''; the massive, boisterous and [[EatDirtCheap rock-eating]] Gorons of DeathMountain are the '''Stout'''; the extremely LongLived Zora FishPeople are the '''Fairy'''; and the Kokiri and their Korok descendants, diminutive forest-dwellers with close ties to magic and fairies, combine traits of the '''Fairy''' and the '''Cute'''.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'': Hylians (Mundane), Sheikah/Gerudo (High Men), Gorons (Stout), Zora (Fairy), and Kokiri (Cute with Fairy traits). In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' the Dekus replace the Kokiri.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' the Zora get replaced with the Rito BirdPeople, and the Deku/Kokiri are replaced by the Koroks.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' retains the Zora, Goron, and Hylians. The Twili replace both Sheikah and Gerudo, with the odd chicken-like Oocca occupying the line somewhere between Fairy and pleasantly innocuous horror.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' has the Hylians (Mundane), Mogmas (Stout), Kikwi (Cute), Sheikah (High Men), and Ancient Robots (Fairy). Oddly enough, Gorons are still present, but don't play a significant role.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' has the Hylians (Mundane), Sheikah/Gerudo (High Men), Rito/Zora (Fairy), Gorons (Stout), and Koroks (Cute).
* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse'' has:
** Stout: Beasts are genetically engineered beings designed to withstand the harsh weather of Moatoob.
** Cute: Small Beasts, a Beast variant that looks child-like even into adulthood. They can still perform [[HulkingOut Nanoblast]], however, so they overlap with Stout.
** Fairy: Newmans are engineered specifically to be proficient with [=TECHNICs=], psychic techniques resembling elemental magic.
** Mundane: Humans. Justified since they were the original race and all the others are modified versions of them.
** High Men: Casts and Dewmans share this one. Casts are intelligent androids who tend to look down on the other, fleshier races. Dewmans are mutated Humans who can unleash great bursts of photon energy (though they wear [[EyepatchOfPower eyepatches]] to prevent PowerIncontinence from kicking in.)
* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' carried over the original three races of Humans (Mundane), Newmans (Fairy), and [=CASTs=] (Stout). Episode 2 added Dewmans (High Men).
* Believe it or not, fits quite well on the “races” of Tellius, the ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' (and ''Radiant Dawn'') setting:
** Gallians/beast tribe laguz are the Stout being ProudWarriorRaceGuy (tigers and lions are MightyGlacier whereas cats and wolves are FragileSpeedster.
** Serenes/heron laguz are the Fairy, being angelic, very magically inclined and also very fragile.
** Humans/beorc are obviously Mundane (duh).
** Phoenicis/hawk laguz and Kilvas/raven laguz are a combination of Mundane (being the JackOfAllStats among the laguz) and High Men (compared to the beorc).
** Goldoans/dragon tribe laguz are the High Men, living isolated from everyone else and declaring themselves as neutral regardless of whatever happens to the outside world. They also have some elements of Stout (mainly on their dragon forms, which tend to be huge).
** Finally, while no race in particular could be considered Cute by itself alone, plenty of laguz could qualify thanks to being {{Beast M|an}}en, and some of the beorc characters among both games, being children, also easily qualify.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series has this going on, loosely. [[ScaryBlackMan Redguards]], [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]], and [[HornyVikings Nords]] are '''Stout'''. [[UnevenHybrid Bretons]] are '''Fairy'''. [[JackOfAllStats Dunmer]] and [[HumansAreAverage Imperials]] are '''Mundane'''. [[WitchSpecies Altmer]] are '''High Men''' (though between the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', they, or at least their [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]] government, are '''Fallen''' instead). [[ForestRanger Bosmer]] are '''Cute'''. In addition, [[LizardFolk Argonians]] and [[CatFolk Khajiit]] are '''{{Beast|Man}}s'''.
* ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}'', despite ostensibly being set in modern-day EagleLand, manages to pull this off, mostly.
** The Humans are, of course, the '''Humans.''' However, due to their mundanity, and the way some of them value hard work, they may well also fill the '''Stout''' role.
** The Mr. Saturns are the '''Fairies.''' They're weird and quirky, and they may have magical powers. Maybe. They're an entire race of {{Cloud Cuckoolander}}s, so it's hard to tell.
** The Starmen are the '''High Men.''' They have advanced psionic powers, and they come from another realm. While their powers are incredible, they're also Giygas' troopers, and therefore kind of, uh, [[AlwaysChaoticEvil evil.]]
** The Tenda are the '''Cute.''' And, as they will frequently tell you, they're shy.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Some are a bit of a stretch, but the main species fall into these types.
** '''Stout''': Krogan are burly brawlers with SpareBodyParts galore (including multiple hearts, gonads, and nervous systems) who communicate through headbutts.
** '''Fairy''':
*** Asari are elegant, long-lived, "squishy," and often capable of throwing people around with their minds.
*** Hanar also fit into this category, as they're deeply spiritual and enigmatic.
** '''Mundane''':
*** [[ShapedLikeItself Humans are human]]. [[HumansAreSpecial But then again...]]
*** The drell might also be mundane. We don't see enough of them to know for sure. Their place in this scheme is problematic since, in multiplayer, they are quintessential [[SquishyWizard squishy wizards]] with low health and potentially monstrous DPS, while the lore in general depicts them as being spiritually elevated and philosophical (and as such closer to "high men").
*** The batarians are also shown to be rather mundane. They start out as an AlwaysChaoticEvil sterotype, but evolve into a more nuanced race in the second and third games.
** '''High Men''':
*** Turians are honorable, steadfast types who are entrusted with keeping the peace.
*** The geth are orderly, progressive, and, for the most part, peaceful.
*** [[{{Precursors}} The protheans]] ruled the galaxy long ago, and were enigmatic, austere, and [[GoodIsNotNice ruthelessly dedicated to preserving]] their [[TheEmpire empire]].
** '''Cute''':
*** Quarians. While not exactly small, they're the least warlike race and are perceived as harmless. Also, Tali's accent.
*** [[{{Keet}} Salarians]], [[FunSize volus,]] and [[GentleGiant elcor]] can also be thrown into the Cute category.
* ''VideoGame/NetHack'' doesn't follow the standard exactly:
** ''Humans'' are more High Men than Mundane: strong and balanced, can be any role (class), and are the only race than can choose their alignment. Their only major disadvantage is that without infravision, they are blind in the dark.
** ''Dwarves'' are Stout to a tee: strong and tough, but lacking in mental faculties and poor at spellcasting.
** ''Elves'' are the archetypical ''Faeries'': very intelligent and wise, but physically frail. Elven weapons and armor are made of wood and leather instead of iron, and future versions may penalize elven characters who wield iron weapons.
** ''Gnomes'' are basically ''Elves'' Lite: not as smart, but fairly bright and reasonably sturdy, with an affinity for gems.
** ''Orcs'' are as stupid as dwarves and no stronger than gnomes, and hated by most other sentient races. Their only saving graces are their innate poison resistance and that cannibalism is natural to them.
* In Videogame/IrunaOnline, the world of Iruna (and its Episode 3 counterpart) has 4 races of people named Species, as they were saved by Godddess Specia during the War of Gods in the ancient times. They are the main people who settle in the land of Iruna, and continue so 1000 years later in Iruna's sequel, Toram Online. They are composed of:
*** Humes: The '''Mundanes'''. They are basically humans. They mostly live in Parul and Slebinia. The Explorer is a Hume. Neems are La Turton (the Dark Continent) 's counterpart of Humes who live in Asueta.
*** [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]]: The '''Fairies''' (some are also '''High men'''). They are people who live in wisdom, while some are assassins. Most of them live in Darkan, though some lived in Slebinia while others works as witches (like Rita), alchemists and merchants in other nations. They are described by Ganaji people as "long-eared men from another world", implying some Elves had reached Ganaji before the arrival of Explorer. Notable Elves are King Elbano and Dyett. Divas are La Turton's version of Elves.
*** [[LittleBitBeastly Diels]]: The '''Stouts'''. Diels are originally an Amazon-like warrior tribe living in Parul. However, some of them strayed from their ways and lived in thievery and created the Guild of Thieves. Eventually, they settled in desert area in Iruna and established the Mithurna Federation by joining small villages together through efforts of once-notorious thief, Curonne. The culture of thievery then died out, though some still live this way like Gral Zanpal. In "another" Iruna, Diels are people who escaped wars in past and lived in Bestiebaum. Diel people are notable for their animal ears, usually dog-like. Notable Diels are Chief Kady, President Curonne and Gral. Caturas are La Turton's version of Diels who live in Rueve, although there are males in their race.
*** [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Cules]]: The '''cute'''. Originally descended from Elves. They are peaceful, usually short people with long-ears. They lived in Slebinia, though many of them went to other lands to be merchants. Paulas are La Turton's counterpart of Cules.
** The Dragonewt Realm is home of the Dragonwets, with some humans living there. They are also divided into 4 races: Dragists who lives in Bleudraf, Dragnofs and Dragistas in Yubadraf, and Dracrels in Kreldan.

* Even in Franchise/CthulhuMythos-inspired "VideoGame/CthulhuMUD", you have mundane Humans, cute Zoogs, stout Deep Ones, high Yithians, and fairy Mi-Go. Keeping in mind, of course, that Yithians (despite being benevolent and intellectual) are body-jumping cone-slugs, the Zoogs are furry blue primates with tentacle-faces, Deep-Ones are fish-frog people, and Mi-Go (flying shrimp-fungus) are as evil, ugly and technologically-advanced as normal Fairies are good, pretty and, magical.
* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' attempst this with the Origins -- almost purely aesthetic descriptions of how your SuperHero got their powers:
** Stout: Technology- In the style of ComicBook/IronMan or Manga/AstroBoy, these heroes were built to be, either using technology or ''being'' it (as in, being a robot). Thus, they often relate to engineers and computer scientists, and [[HumansAreWarriors a long history of weapons technology]].
** Fairy: [[FunctionalMagic Magic]]- Most associated with otherworldly forces such as [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]] or [[TheFairFolk fey]], magic is famously ill-defined but much like Technology, can come down to those who use magic itself (a la Comicbook/DoctorStrange) or those who are merely empowered by it (see: ComicBook/WonderWoman).
** Mundane: [[BadassNormal Natural]]- Characters of this origin are usually normal humans, [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower keeping up with superfolks through sheer skill]]. Alternatively, they can be non-human but using powers that are natural for their species. Two examples that exemplify each type: Franchise/{{Batman}} and Franchise/{{Superman}}.
** High Men: [[AppliedPhlebotinum Science]]- You could say that the liberal and [[LampshadeHanging very self-aware]] abuse of HollywoodScience is the attempts to become better than what humans can achieve.
** Cute: [[{{Mutants}} Mutation]]- Essentially, a rip-off of the entire Franchise/XMen concept, but with less FantasticRacism. Mutation can make one an UglyCute monster to a CatGirl.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': By ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', there have been at least five sentient races portrayed in major roles:
** Stout: Super Mutant -- Due to the unstable nature of FEV on irradiated humans, most Super Mutants lose their ability to think on a rational level and depend on using physical force in order to solve any problem.
** Fairy: Ghouls -- Being exposed to high levels of radiation has mutated these humans into a species of semi-decomposed, as well as long-lived, beings. Almost every Ghoul alive in the Fallout series was born before the bombs fell over 200 years ago.
** Mundane: Humans -- Most humans remain unchanged after the Great War, but can recieve cybernetic implants and limbs.
** High Men: Deathclaws -- In ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', there were a group of Deathclaws that had been genetically altered by the Enclave, resulting in them being intelligent as well as peaceful and wise.
** Cute: Synths -- The Institute achieved in creating androids with true consciousness and emotions, yet failed to realize that in doing so would lead to the Synths developing independence. Soon, many Synths simply wanted to escape and live their own lives as people.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'' Have the Lilties be (Stout), with their warriors ways even though they are Cute Bruisers, they even went to war with the (Fairie), the Yulks, who are intelligent creatures who study magic. The (Humans) can be both Clavats and Selkies since they both appear most human, and one is a farmer and the other is a thief. (High Men) can be the Carbuncle, since they live long time and know secrets of the past, and of course, Moogles are (Cute).
* ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' has the average Humans (Mundane), the lithe Erune (Fairie), the horned Draph (Stout), and the half-pint Harvin (Cute). Characters that do not fit into the four main races are categorized as None, which includes robots, dragons, vampires. Primal Beasts in human form were originally in the None category before later being put into their own seperate race, the powerful Primals (High Men).
* ''Videogame/GuildWars2'', which currently provides the page image:
** Stout: Charr -- physically strong and industrious warriors, engineers, and inventors.
** High Men: Humans -- elegant, magical, and proudly hold their dying civilization above the barbaric Norn, Charr, and Sylvari.
** Mundane: Norns, overlapping with both Stout and High Men -- a race of Viking-inspired giants fond of simple pleasures and as a race unambitious (personal quests for glory are another story), they are also the most spiritual of the five races, regularly communing directly with their spirits.
** Fairie: Sylvari -- enigmatic and empathic plants newly awakened in the world, gifted with strange magics and a mysterious sense of purpose.
** Cute: Asura, overlapping with High Men -- magically powerful and condescending to other races, but increasingly played for comedy rather than seriously.
* The Spanish role playing game ''Videogame/{{Anima}}'' subvert this: Instead of actual Races, they are the Souls of a long gone races which born in a Human Body. They, technically, are humans, but, their soul is un-human. They give a little benefit for have that soul in exchange of Experience points.
* ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'' has five races, but only four of them really fit one. Luckily, one of them can be split into two distinct groups:
** Mundane: More or less normal Humans.
** Fairy: Fairies. The Sproutlings/Flowerlings are a mix of this and Cute, maybe with a little High Men thrown in.
** Stout: Humans with [[BeastMan animal characteristics]].
** High Men: It's a bit of a stretch, but this can be seen in the Jumi.
** Cute: Lillipeas
* In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' the various client races of the Covenant can be fit into these groups.
** Grunts -- the cute race
** Jackals -- the mundane race
** Brutes -- the stout race
** Elites -- the High Men
** Engineers -- the fairy race (on account of their almost magical skill in repairing almost anything)
** Drones are arguably stout given their mechanical skill and propensity to solve non-mechanical problems with violence
** Depending on one's point of view, Prophets can be either fairies for their highly spiritual rhetoric and technological outlook or mundane people for their politics and variety of occupations.
** Hunters also fit the stout category.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has humans for mundane and dwarves for stout. In the backstory elves were fairy, but by the time of the game city elves are mundane and the Dalish elves, while they would like to think of themselves as fairy, are at best mundane with fairy qualities. The qunari fit into the high men role, at least in terms of philosophy, and certainly consider themselves "higher" than all other ''bas''.
** Appearance-wise the redesign in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' put the Dalish into the role of the Cute, but in keeping with the [[DarkFantasy themes]] they are justifiably wary of outsiders (and some of them regard city elves as beneath them).
** There actually are at least five confirmed races in the setting:
*** Stout: Dwarves
*** Mundane: Humans, city elves.
*** Fairy: Dalish elves have some elements of this.
*** High Men: Qunari
*** Cute: Elves have some elements of this. Also possibly the Fex, a sentient race native to Par Vollen, though they haven't appeared in any Dragon age media so far. Their existence was confirmed by WordOfGod in an interview.
* Most of the ''Franchise/BreathOfFire'' games, with the exception of ''Dragon Quarter'', actually have this trope going as well combined with more than a bit of BeastMan action.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders'': ''Shadow Magic'' generally has these archetypes for its Good, Neutral, and Evil (the three in-game alignments for factions) races.
** Stout = Dwarves (good), Tigrans (Neutral), Orcs (Evil)
** High men = Archons (good), Humans (neutral), Dark Elves or Undead (Evil)
** Cute = Halflings (good), Frostling (neutral), Goblins (Evil, or as close to "cute" as evil can get)
** Fairy = Syrons, possibly Elves (good), Draconians or Frostlings (Neutral), Dark eves or undead (Evil)
** Mundane = possibly Elves (good), Nomads (neutral), Shadow Demons (evil)
* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': [[LowFantasy Any citizen of any race could be considered Mundane]], but as for the characters of whole civilizations:
** Dwarf = Anyone who can swing a granite throne as a weapon would naturally be a Stout. They're also the most advanced, with technology that canonically reaches into the High Middle Ages and, with player influence, goes [[ClockPunk even further]].
** Human = High Men -- although they're only in the Bronze Age and are far shorter-lived than any other sentient save kobolds, they're physically the biggest, they own all the land and currency, and they have the largest armies.
** Elves = Fairy -- distant, worship 'forces' of nature, and their druids have more leadership role than priests of other races.
** Goblins = Mundane -- could have the potential to catch up with Dwarves and/or Humans, if [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder murderous treachery]] wasn't their [[PlanetOfHats Hat]].
** Kobolds = Cute -- scrawny and sneaky, hardly have a civilization or warriors to take seriously, but they're [[EnsembleDarkhorse favorites with some]].
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' has this too.
** Human = Mundane -- Their main ability is to swing a weapon. Other than that they have no outstanding capabilities, and are what you find populating most of the world.
** Winglies = High Men / Fairy hybrid -- At least formerly. They ruled the world 11,000 years before the start of the game. They're also the only sentient race who can fly or use magic naturally. Their technology is far advanced and are really what the humans strive toward, in only in actions.
** Gigantos = Stout -- Given their strength (Kongol stopped a pillar from landing on the party.) it's not a surprise that they're the stout.
** Minintos = Cute -- You only see a few of them, but their appearance says it all. Short in stature, bright clothing, shocking pink hair.
** Dragons = Low Men -- They're always being enslaved, if they're not being killed off. The Dragoons used them to defeat the Winglies, then the whole first half of the game is finding out random people are Dragoons, some with dragons. Greham and Lenus come to mind. You fight three in the course of the game, solely to kill them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rift}}'' plays with the trope: There are arguably only four playable races, total (bahmi and dwarves—the respective Stouts of their factions—are distinct races, but [[HumansByAnyOtherName Mathosians and Eth]] are [[HumansAreSpecial human nationalities]] and high elves and Kelari are [[OurElvesAreDifferent elves]]), most of them overlap more than one category, and it'd be a stretch to call ''any'' of them Cute.
* ''VideoGame/{{Opoona}}'' pulls this off, thanks to the co-existence in the game of both science fiction (alien) and fantasy aspects.
** The Tizians, the game's focal race, are the '''Stout.''' They're an incredibly powerful ProudWarriorRace and the galaxy's police force, but, since they can use magical Force and are ''[[KillerRabbit really adorable]],'' they have '''Cute''' sub-traits.
** The game features fairies as the game's '''Fairy''' race. Fairly straightforward. This also includes the Elemental Aura spirits, which are somewhat fairy-like in nature.
** Humans are the game's '''Mundane''' race. Unusually, they're not the one's we're supposed to identify with, as most of the game's humans take a background role.
** There are two candidates for '''High Men.''' The first are the Sages: Humans (or Tizians) born with overflowing amounts of Holy Force, giving them divine powers of healing and other things. They use their powers to essentially (benevolently, for the most part) rule the planet. Another might be Giants--incredibly ancient, have been on the planet much longer than humans, connected to nature, and implied to be very wise.
** The Nikoniko people are the more definite '''Cute.''' They're adorable meter-high, brightly-colored aliens who love artwork and have slightly-snobbish but well-meaning attitudes. They are also implied to have {{Verbal Tic}}s, though it's not present in the English version.
* GameMod VideoGame/RedAlert3Paradox:
** Cute: Design-wise, Empire of the Rising Sun, who overlap with Fairy by having PsychicPowers.
** Fairy: Allied Nations, with their almost magical technology.
** High Men: Order of the Talon fit this the most, when they are not scheming nations against each other.
** Mundane: Allied Reservists, International Inc.
** Stout: Confederate Revolutionairies, but they also subvert it by using dirty tactics and stealth.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX: Waking of the Five Tribes'' even has this trope in its ''title''. Ironically, it features ''six'' races in the setting, but humans are really rare and not an option for CharacterCustomization and so aren't counted:
** Ogres = Stout -- Exceptionally tall and muscled ProudWarriorRace of [[{{Youkai}} red-skinned oni]]. Females definitely have BoobsOfSteel and AmazonianBeauty in effect.
** Wedi = High Men -- Look like androgynous humans, but with the additions of blue skin and fins.
** Elves = Fairy -- Short little FairFolk with pointy ears, pixie wings, and an apparent propensity for magic.
** Dwarves = Mundane -- Having the height of Fairies, the adorableness of Cute, and the technological prowess of High Men makes them [[JackOfAllStats even out]] to an all-around Mundane.
** Pukuripos = Cute -- Tiny little rabbits decked in jester attire. Always smiling.
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'':
** '''Mundane:''' Homs -- The local stand-ins for humans. Most don't have any sort of special powers, but they make-do by refining the local [[MagicByAnyOtherName ether]] to create some nifty technology like {{Mini Mecha}}s and ether rifles.
** '''Cute:''' Nopon -- The {{Ridiculously Cute Critter}}s. Small balls of [[YouNoTakeCandle grammar-breaking]] fur that are shown as both {{Intrepid Merchant}}s and rather cowardly. Don't let that fool you, some are [[PintSizedPowerHouse surprisingly capable]].
** '''Fairy:''' High Entia -- Elves with MercurysWings. A technologically advanced and [[Really700YearsOld long-lived]] race capable of manipulating [[MagicByAnyOtherName ether]] by themselves. Formely thought just a myth by many Homs of the lower lands.
** '''Stout:''' Giants -- A long extinct race of... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin giants]]. Not much is known about them [[spoiler:except that one is still alive... [[DemonicPossession technically]]]].
** '''High Men:''' [[spoiler:Machina -- The MechanicalLifeforms. ''Very'' long-lived and technologically advanced, they were formely a prosper race. Most that remain went on to live in peace, hidden from the rest of the world, while one of them went on to become a WellIntentionedExtremist]].
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' fits the bill as well.
** Mundane: Ardainians, Leftherians, Tantalese, the original Tornans.
** High Men: [[TheChurch Indoline]].
** Stout: [[LandDownUnder Urayans]].
** Fairy: [[CatFolk Gormotti]].
** Cute: [[IntrepidMerchant Nopon]].
** Blades vary in shape and size and can fit various categories.
* The more common races in ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' can fill this out pretty well
** Mundane: Humans
** High Men: Elves
** Stout: Dwaves
** Fairy: Fairies
** Cute: Gnomes and Cave Goblins
** Other races of runescape can also take these roles. The Mahjarrat can be High Men. Yu'buisk races except for cave goblins, and also the Demon races, and the Tzhaar/Tokhaar (living volcanic rock men) can be the Stout. The Aviansie can be cute (being a race of badass but friendly bird men). The Icyene and Vampyres can be Fairy or High Men. Gorajo can be fairy. Inteligent animals can be mundane or cute.
* ''Videogame/DragonBallXenoverse'' and [[VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2 its sequel]] have five playable races which roughly correspond to this. In the first game only Saiyans got a SuperMode (Super Saiyan, naturally) with Kaioken and Unlock Potential available to all races; the sequel gives a unique transformation to every race.
** Mundane: Earthlings -- They have [[JackOfAllStats balanced stats all around]] and their [[KiManipulation Ki]] recharges automatically, granting an attack bonus when maxed out. Additionally, [[GuysSmashGirlsShoot male Earthlings are better at physical attacks while females are better at Ki attacks]]. The Human transformation in ''[=XV2=]'' has them board the Flying Nimbus, gaining SuperArmor and performing unique attacks with the Power Pole.
** Fairy: Freeza's Race -- They have low attack but high speed, receiving a speed bonus when their HP dips below 50%. They also sacrifice the ability to throw multiple Ki blasts in favor of a single shot which causes stun on hit. Their Golden transformation in ''[=XV2=]'' buffs their speed and ki blasts even more, makes their basic charged ki blast as powerful as a super attack.
** Stout: Namekian -- [[StoneWall Their attack is low, but they have high health and stamina recharges faster than other races]]. Their natural regenerative abilities are represented as a bonus to healing items and GradualRegeneration when low on HP. In ''[=XV2=]'' they gain the ability to become giant Great Namekians, dealing increased damage and gaining a new moveset mostly built around [[BreathWeapon mouth beams]].
** High Men: Saiyan -- [[GlassCannon They have high attack power, but low health]]. They get an attack bonus when low on health, and [[CameBackStrong bonuses to all stats when revived]]. Males have stronger basic melee and {{Status Buff}}s last longer, but weaker Supers; females have better Ki and stamina recovery and trigger Z Assists more often, but have lower health. And of course, they have access to [[GoldenSuperMode Super Saiyan (up to 2)]], while all the other races have to make due with the Kaioken. In the sequel they have a grand total of '''three''' unique transformations: regular Super Saiyan (up to [=SSJ3=], buffs physical attacks), Super Vegeta (up to [=SSJ2=], buffs ki attacks) and Future Super Saiyan (only one level, buffs stamina and ki regeneration).
** Cute: Majin -- [[SuperToughness They have high defense]], but stamina recovers more slowly, and max stamina grants a defense bonus. Males have more health and less speed while females have the opposite. In ''[=XV2=]'' male Majins take less damage when they have more stamina (but take ''more'' when they're low on it) and females recover stamina more quickly when their stamina breaks. They also gain Purification, which lets them turn into a Kid Buu-like form with a damage buff.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ryzom}}'' has four races, but otherwise fits the mold:
** Fairy: The Matis, who rely heavily on plants for their technology and are diametrically opposed to the Stout Fyros.
** Stout: The Fyros, who are a ProudWarriorRace that likes to fight and are diametrically opposed to the Fairy Matis.
** Cute[=/=]Mundane: The Trykers, who are fairly fun-loving and tech-oriented and the shortest of the races.
** High Men: The Zoraï, the most spiritual and connected to nature of the four and the most mysterious.
* ''Videogame/DarkSouls'' has this in the backstory if you turn your head a little.
** Mundane: The Humans. The player character and many of the npcs you encounter fall into this category.
** Fairy: The [[PhysicalGod gods/lords/kings]]. Basically any of the original Lord Soul bearers like [[TopGod Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight]], his family and much of his kingdom, the [[WitchSpecies Witch of Izalith, her Daughters of Chaos]], and [[GrimReaper Gravelord Nito]]. Ancient and powerful beings who are [[BlueAndOrangeMorality implied to be far removed from humans]]. They are innately magical beings, with Nito and Gwyn being the originators of [[ReligionIsMagic unique miracles]] and The Witch of Izalith more or less creating a [[PlayingWithFire whole class of magic]]. The [[HiveMind Milfanito]] and [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation Fenito]] from Dark Souls 2 might count, but there is little elaboration upon them aside from being immortal and possibly being created by Nito. [[MadScientist Seath, The Scaless]] is also technically in this category despite being a dragon. He was also the creator of [[MagicIsMental sorcery]] and even has fairy wings to boot.
** Stout: The giants, Gyrm, and chaos demons. The giants are portrayed as strong and the two npc giants the player meets seem to have some affinity for craftsmanship. The [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Gyrm]] from the second game are implied to be a ProudWarriorRace and pretty much fit the cliche image of dwarves with their beards, love of beer, and [[AnAxeToGrind huge axes]] and thus the stout type. The chaos demons are an interesting case, and mix with the Savage also. They were born from a monster called [[MotherOfAThousandYoung The Bed Of Chaos]]. The first game seems to portray them as AlwaysChaoticEvil, however the third game has the [[LastOfHisKind Old Demon King]] whose merely fighting the player because they attacked him first and is portrayed as tired. The game indicates that the chaos demons eventually formed society but were ultimately wiped out.
** The High Men: [[OurDragonsAreDifferent The dragons]], they [[TimeAbyss came first]] existing in the Age of Ancients. They were immortal and extremely powerful beings until the Lord Soul bearers rebelled against them by using their one great [[ShockAndAwe weakness]] [[BoltOfDivineRetribution against them]]. They aren't so much an idealized race or a symbol of what humans could be, but more a relic of a far gone time, being all mostly absent by the time of the games. One in the first game can be found [[GuideDangIt off the beaten path]].
** Cute: The mushroom people from the first game, especially the babies, they also cross with stout because as [[MemeticMutation many players discovered]] they can [[MegatonPunch one-shot]] you.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'':
** Mundane: The Almain are basically ordinary humans. They are typified by a love of peace and order and encompass the bulk of the non-elf population of the setting.
** Stout: The Varani are typically travelers, pirates, merchants and thieves who live by their wits, but otherwise fit the role perfectly and are described as "Strong. Enduring. Weathered."
** The High men: The Ljosalfar and Dokkalfar share this. While the Ljosalfar are the regal, [[CantArgueWithElves snobby]] High Men who lead the charge against the evil army of the setting, their cousins the Dokkalfar are the studious and diplomatic race more prone to manipulation than direct aggression.
** Fairy: The Fae. They've existed since long before any of the mortal (read:playable) races and are likened by some [=NPCs=] to be akin to forces of nature and/or [[PhysicalGod gods]]. The truth is more that they are people with a bit of BlueAndOrangeMorality who cannot truly be killed due to the fact that when they die, they simply reincarnate and live out the exact same lives they did before.
* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', a hodgepodge of kung fu, fantasy, and science fiction tropes, has a set of these (served with a helping of BlackAndGreyMorality; these guys [[GoodIsNotNice can be brutal]] but aim to preserve their species):
** '''Stout''': The Shokan, a [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four-armed]] race of [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy proud warriors with foul tempers]].
** '''Fairy''': [[OurGodsAreDifferent Gods]], immortals brimming with divine power, protect the mortal realms. Powerful and wise, but not [[GodIsFlawed infallible]].
** '''Mundane''': Humans again. Mostly martial artists and soldiers with super technology. [[HumansAreWarriors They make do]].
** '''High Men''': The Edenians may look human, but have godly heritage. Thus they're all pretty, graceful, long-lived and use magic.
** '''Cute''': Outworlders are battle-hardened but more genial (like the [[BigFun jolly]] Bo' Rai Cho and his kindly student, Li Mei). They show great inner strength by humbly enduring life in a tumultuous [[{{Mordor}} hellhole]] like Outworld.
* [[VideoGame/SteamWorldDig Steamworld Dig]] and [[VideoGame/SteamWorldHeist SteamWorld Heist]] provide some unorthodox examples. You have:
** Steambots: who basically take the place of humans, despite humans [[TheMorlocks technically existing in the setting.]] They're generally good people, have a slightly dwarf-ish obsession with mining, but do have bad seeds. All the protagonists are steambots.
** Voltbots: Basically [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Always Lawful Evil]], even if their version of "lawful" is borderline BlueAndOrangeMorality. They're a HiveMind who want to eradicate steambots. There is also some overlap with TheAssimilator, with Voltron wanting to assimilate Rusty (and having already assimilated Joe) in the Dig 1. But this was unique, and hasn't come up in later games.
*** Fen is probably the only example of a piece of Voltron who completely broke free. She is absolutely terrified of going anywhere near [[TheDreaded Voltron]].
** Dieselbots: They consider themselves to be an enlightened and superior race, somewhat akin to grungier SpaceElves, but are pretty much just jerkasses whose bodies are higher-performance than steambots. They are led by a [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen]]. They also have some dwarfish tendences, being obsessed with drilling for oil and technological relics from ancient Earth. It's implied they have good intentions and want to repair the planet, but this is drowned out by their oppressive methods.
** Shiners: AlwaysChaoticEvil played straight. They are the [[TheMorlocks remains of humanity]] who are almost uniformly [[AxeCrazy insane]] and prone to [[MadBomber throwing dynamite at everyone they see.]] This is somewhat averted in Dig 2, with the Oasis, a peaceful Shiner community led by a woman named Rosie. [[spoiler: Unfortunately it was not meant to be, and Rosie turned out to be [[TheChessMaster manipulating you the whole game]]. And while still pretty unstable, she managed to build some rather impressive technology, likely making her one of the smartest characters in the franchise. It is heavily implied her high-intelligence is a fluke, and she is one-of-a-kind.]]
* ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'':
** The Oseram are '''Stout''', being more like [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame stereotypical fantasy dwarves than many actual fantasy dwarves.]] They fight with hammers and wear heavy armor, and are the known world's best metalworkers, brewers and arguers.
** The Banuk are '''Fairy''', being the most spiritually inclined, as well as the most adept at handling Old World technology (though they see their use of old tech through a very shamanistic lens). They are also the most reclusive.
** The Carja are '''High Men''', having the most sophisticated culture, art and political system, as well as being very spiritually inclined and pacifistic (though both these are very recent developments, and rode on the aftermath of a very bloody civil war).
** The Nora are Mundane, being the main character's tribe, as well as living in a form of tribal society that wouldn't be particularly alien to anyone with an interest in history.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TwiceBlessed'', being based on D&D, plays this pretty straight. So far, it has humans as as Mundanes, dwarves as the Stout, pixies as the Fairies, elves as the High Men, and gnomes as the Cute.
* In ''Webcomic/TriquetraCats'', humans having colonized the solar system have come to develop into this: Earthlings = mundane/human; Martians = Stout/dwarf; Venutians = High Men/elf; Stationborn = Fairy/gnome; Outer System = Cute/Hobbit; [[SixthRanger Antreyki]] = Proud Warrior Race/animal people
* Lampshaded somewhat in ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' when Carissa touched on a theory where the human girl used the Magicant to create the first of four other races. These other four people were visibly unhappy about this in [[http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0092.html this comic here.]]
* The premise of ''Webcomic/CarpeChaos'' about 5 intelligent Aliens races and how they interact with each other.
* The comic ''Webcomic/QuestOfCamelittle'' has this: Humans are Mundane, Elves are Fairy, Dwarves are Stout, Hippies (the comical replacement of Druids) are Cute, and Ninjurai (a proud race of Human ninjas and samurai) are High Men.
* ''WebComic/SlightlyDamned'' does this in two ways, with the five races of Medius and with the five races in the main characters' party. The five races of Medius are mundane humans, cute jakkai, fairies, stout Khamegha, and merfolk. The races in the main character's party include a jakkai, a demon (this particular one is cute, but as a whole they vary quite a lot, leaning towards stout), an angel ([[OurAngelsAreDifferent who are more like elves with wings]], so they fit high men), some humans, and a fairy.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''Series/FraggleRock'' has a glancing acquaintance with this Trope, as the series centers around a fantasy ecosystem that intertwines four different races (often without any of them being aware of it). Arguably, the Silly Creatures (i.e. us) are Mundanes, the Doozers are Stouts, the Gorgs are parodies of High Men, and the Fraggles themselves are Cute with Fairy tendencies.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' actually fits this if you include the alien races. Granted, some are more important than others, but...
** Mundane: Humans, of course.
** Fairy: The magical races (Fairies, Anti-Fairies, Pixies, Genies, etc.)
** High Men: The denizens of Wonder World, Turbo Thunder's world, who all had superpowers.
** Stout: Boudacians, Princess Mandie's race. If Mandie (and the arranged military alliance with Yugopotamia)is any indication, they seem to be a ProudWarriorRace.
** Cute: The Gigglepies. [[TastesLikeDiabetes Sickeningly so,]] [[InvokedTrope intentionally.]]
** AlwaysChaoticEvil: Though this can also apply to the Gigglepies, this is the Yugopotamian's [[PlanetOfHats hat.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** Earth Kingdom as Stout, though they could easily count as Mundane due to their diversity and larger population.
** Spirit World (and Benders in general, as they draw their power from it) as Fairy.
** Fire Nation as Mundane (but see themselves as High Men). ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' also adds Republic City.
** Air Nomads as High Men, particularly because they're ''all'' benders unlike the other nations. Bonus points for being nearly extinct at the time of the series.
** Water Tribe as Cute, for the underestimated (at least at the beginning of Book One) and CloserToEarth parts.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** This dynamic can be seen among the four commonly seen types of ponies in the show:
*** '''Stout''': {{Pegas|us}}i, who used to be a {{Proud Warrior Race|Guy}} before the founding of Equestria, but are now doing jobs such as weather managing. Earth ponies have shades of this thanks to their SuperStrength.
*** '''Fairy''': {{Unicorn}}s are a WitchSpecies and each one can [[PersonalityPowers use magic associated with his/her special skill]], while a unicorn who has magic itself as their special skill will generally gravitate towards being TheArchmage. They also have hints of ProudScholarRaceGuy.
*** '''Mundane''': Earth ponies lack the overt magic and flight that the other races have, but they can grow crops better than the others and generally handle the bulk of the agriculture. All pony types can be considered this thanks to being the show's [=POV=] species.
*** '''High Men''': [[WingedUnicorn Alicorns]] have both flight and magic and the more powerful ones are {{Physical God}}s able to move the sun and moon, though their rareness might preclude them from being considered an actual race in and of themselves.[[note]]A grand total of five have appeared onscreen, with two of them magically created from ponies of other races and only one confirmed to have been born naturally.[[/note]]
*** '''Cute''': Rather than one group of ponies taking this role, the species as a whole has shades of this in respect to other races, being physically unimpressive but possessing inner strength and purity (under the form of ThePowerOfFriendship and ThePowerOfLove) that has allowed them to succeed against great odds.
** This dynamic becomes apparent on a broader scale in the later seasons of the show, as six species -- ponies, dragons, griffons, changelings, yaks and hippogriffs -- come into particular focus in the show's story and world.
*** '''Stout''': This slot is shared by the dragons and the yaks, who provide different takes on the Stout archetype: the dragons are fierce, highly competitive, physically tough and generally disdainful of what they perceive as other species' softer habits; the yaks are boisterous, short-tempered, emotionally blunt and ridiculously proud. Both are much bigger and stronger than any other species, especially the dragons, and both are quick to threaten war when crossed. Of note is that the dragons started out in the role of the Stout's evil counterpart, the Savage.
*** '''Fairy''': Changelings are more closely tied to magic than any other species -- they are adept and habitual [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifters]] and [[EmotionEater feed primarily on love]]. They're physically the most alien species, being essentially the equine equivalent of InsectoidAliens -- they have insect wings and hard elytrae, hatch as grubs from large clutches of eggs, and live in an enormous hive. \\
\\
The tiny and insect-winged breezies, highly dependent on magically controlled environments such as their own PocketDimension and very effeminate in appearance, are also a good fit, although they have a much more peripheral role in the show's world.
*** '''Mundane''': The [[OurGriffinsAreDifferent griffons]], who have little to no magic of their own save cloud walking and a more ramshackle and unimpressive civilization than everyone else, fit this role best, although they were High Men in the past.
*** '''High Men''': The ponies have what appears to be the most well-developed and prosperous civilization in the setting and are masters of magic ruled by {{Physical God}}s, with, unusually, shades of '''Cute'''. The hippogriffs also fit in this archetype, living in a prosperous and elegant isolated city-state and commanding powerful magic of their own; hippogriff characters of authority also tend to act with poise bordering on snobbery when interacting with other species.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'':
** '''Stout''': Monsters.
** '''Mundane''': Mewmans and humans.
** '''Fairy''': Several, but most notably demons and pony heads. The Queens and Princesses of Mewni may also qualify; while they are of the Mewman race, they possess great magical powers that seem to be hereditary and unique to them.
** '''High Men''': The Magic High Commission
** '''Cute''': The Laser Puppies are the most obvious example. The Wooletts (Kelly's people) lean towards being this, despite also being a race of [[BloodKnight Blood Knights]]. Some of the smaller subspecies of monsters would also qualify.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'':
** '''Stout''': Toads.
** '''Mundane''': Frogs and regular newts. Sometimes humans.
** '''Fairy''': Humans, because of their connection to [[MacGuffin the Calamity Box]].
** '''High Men:''' Giant newts; so far only represented by [[LargeAndInCharge King Andrias]], but he has a strong ''High Men'' aura.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Several ancient human species could possibly fit.
** Stout: '''Neanderthals.''' Short, stocky, but very muscular and durable.
** Mundane/High Men: '''Homo Erectus.''' They are the first known species of human to make complex technology, control fire, and cook food. These would later become common in most other humans.
** The Cute: '''Homo Floresiensis.''' Barely a meter tall, with an ape-sized brain. Hell, they've already been nicknamed Hobbits.
** Elves: '''Cro Magnon.''' The ancestors of modern humans, who were taller and more lithe than their cousins, and had an incredible capacity for invention and adaptation. '''Homo sapiens''' in general ''is'' also the only species that has survived to modern day.
* [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Races_Under_One_Union "Five Races Under One Union]]", the ethnic groups of China as defined by the [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors Republic of China]].
** Stout: Mongols, traditionally tough, nomadic warriors.
** Fairy: Tibetans, stereotyped as mystical, religious and pacifistic.
** Mundane: Han Chinese, the largest and most diverse group in China (and the world in general).
** High Men: Manchu people, the rulers and emperors of China during the Qing dynasty.
** Cute: Hui people, historically a small group with a distinctly different cultural identity, who nonetheless held many powerful political and military positions in the ROC.
* Medieval Britain:
** Stout: Scots -- also, Viking ancestors
** Fairy: Irish
** Mundane: Anglo-Saxons
** High Men: Normans -- also, Brythonic Romans (as remembered)
** Cute: Welshmen
* The people of Meso-America (modern-day Mexico and Central America) when the Spaniards reached it:
** Mundane: The ''Mexica'', best known today as the '''Aztecs'''. Their domain expanded far and wide, from central Mexico all the way to the south. Their capital, ''Tenochtitlan'', was the largest in the Americas at the time. Mexico City now stands over its ruins. They were an advanced civilization and successful strategists, which led to them being the most numerous civilization on the region. Yes, they are the namesake of the modern country of Mexico.
** Stout: The '''Chichimeca''', a blanket term equivalent to "barbarian" in Europe, used by the Aztecs to refer to several nomadic tribes living in the wildlands to the [[GrimUpNorth north of Tenochtitlan]]. Most did not have fixed long-term settlements, and some constantly moved between central Mexico and as far north as what's now ''Utah''. Many of these consisted mostly of [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy stubborn desert-dwelling warriors]], and they actually resisted Spaniard occupation ''decades'' after the Aztecs empire fell. The Spaniards eventually gave up trying to fight them, and finally tried a peaceful, much more successful approach.
** Fairy: The '''Teotihuacano''' people. A mysterious civilization that [[{{Precursors}} rose and fell]] ''[[{{Precursors}} centuries]]'' [[{{Precursors}} before the Aztecs settled in the region]]. Even today, no one is exactly sure who they were, or even what they called themselves. The name used for them today refers to ''Teotihuacan'', the name given to their capital city by the Aztecs. It means "Birthplace of the Gods", and it was indeed believed to be built by them. What we do know is that they were pretty advanced for their time, and built the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, which still stand today.
** Cute: Several tribes living under Mexica rule. A few, like the '''Tlaxcalteca''', were warriors that could not quite stand up to the Mexica. These people eventually allied with the Spaniards to bring down the Aztecs.
** High Men: The '''Spaniards'''. Pretty self-explanatory. Highly advanced, carrying firearms and metal weapons (metalworking was unheard of in the Americas at the time. The only metal the Aztecs used was gold, which is very easy to work, but is practically useless for weapons). To add to the effect, it should be noted how ''bizarre'' and ''[[HumanoidAbomination eldritch]]'' the Spaniards seemed to the people of Meso-America. Accounts from Tenochtitlan scouts described men arriving by sea ''riding on floating mountains'' (ships) and ''half-men-and-half-deer monsters'' (men on horseback). They were infamously mistaken for returning gods by many people, and they brought mysterious illnesses with them. The Aztecs could be forgiven for believing they were indeed gods.
* This describes well the more common depictions of the Allied Powers in most World War II.
** High Men = Great Britain during the final glory days of the British Empire
** Fairies = the United States with its potent uptick in technology and its isolation from the European Theatre
** Cute = France -- or rather, French culture -- both in terms of Gallic Romanticism and in the way that the Cute is often the one conquered by the EvilEmpire
** Stout = the Soviet Union, usually depicted as the Allies' ProudWarriorRace
** Mundane = China, due to its contributions having been forgotten by the other countries
* The stock generalizations IN FICTION of the five generations of Americans alive during the first two decades of 21st century:
** High Men = the "Greatest Generation" still celebrated for defeating the Nazi menace in World War II and often seen in both fiction and real life as the last of the generations that everyone respected
** Stout = the Baby Boomers, who in fiction are now associated most with the classic dwarven traits of gruff practicality, a sour or cynical disposition, and a tendency to keep to themselves and to avoid and dislike all the other generations (and classically represented in their younger days by a dwarflike Creator/DustinHoffman in Film/TheGraduate)
** Fairy = the Generation X, often depicted in fiction as distracted with finding their spiritual or mythic selves through their elfish devotion to Star Wars; to Joseph Campbell's monomyth; to the first great rise of organized fandom, conventions, cosplay, and LARPS; and to the first great peak of self-help books
** Mundane = the Millennials, who see themselves as the Only Sane Generation but who find themselves treated by all the other generations as the most fragile generation and as the most mundane generation in their notions of art and innovation
** Cute = the Post-Millennials or Generation Zed, in fiction treated like pampered but caged pets by their Helicopter Parents and Snowplow Parents but also depicted in fiction as possessing a hobbit-like immunity to the obsessive natures attributed in fiction to the other four generations and thus as having the greatest chance of defeating the One Ring

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* Aliens from urban legends / conspiracy theories
** Stout: TheReptilians
** High Men: [[SpaceElves The Nordics / Pleiarans]]
** Mundane: Humans, us Earthlings
** Fairy: TheGreys
** Cute: LittleGreenMen
[[/folder]]
----

** Concerning Allied Races for the Alliance, we have '''Dark Iron Dwarves''' as Stout (with some possible High Men elements), '''Kul Tirans''' as Mundane with an extra touch of Stout, '''Mechanomes''' as Cute, '''Void Elves''' as Fairy and '''Lightforged Draenei''' as High Men.

** '''Cute''': Podlings

Many fantastic settings attempting a universe will end up using "races" of people, the word race here typically referring to biologically distinct species of humanoids and not "races" of humans.

** '''Mundane''': The Mutants are considered the most Mundane race in the game as they were the only one of the four races to truly grow up and experience their as it was; a hellscape filled with terrible and monstrous creatures.

** '''High Men''': Ironically just as The Robots are considered the Elves of ''Year Zero'' World, and even though they've got no special powers like the rest, The Humans are seen as their world's version of High Elves. They're vastly superior to all other races in all forms of technology and stats.

** '''Fairy:''' The Others (An AlwaysChaoticEvil race of {{Ice|Person}} FairFolk).